Shubeik Lubeik

"With an Arabic title that means “Your Wish is My Command,” this dazzlingly profound feast begins at a Cairo kiosk, where, among modern sundry goods, bottled wishes are sold. All the linked stories illustrate the complex struggle between external forces (sexism, poverty, disease and intolerance) and individual choice (personal ethics and rational skepticism). Before invoking the wish, each protagonist must consider the causal relationship between the expression, or suppression, of their wish and their social environment. The concept of earned agency at the center of these thoughtful examinations echoes the central idea of One Thousand and One Nights, where telling a good story means to successfully translate one’s desire, and in doing so, destinies can be shaped, and demises deferred."