The Critical Case of a Man Called K - Paperback

by Aziz Mohammad (Author), Humphrey Davies (Translator)

SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR ARABIC FICTION

A sensitive and at times darkly humorous story of a young man's experience of illness, his contemplation of death, and his determination to maintain his independence through it all

After reading Kafka, K decides to write his own diary, but he is constantly frustrated by his lack of experiences: he is worn down by the drudgery of his corporate job for a faceless corporation and by his incessant family obligations.

When he receives the news that he has leukemia, he finds himself torn between a sense of devastation and a revelation that he has finally found a way out of his writing predicament. Through Mohammed's measured but forceful writing, this compelling debut has a universality that reaches across time, place, and culture.

Author Biography

Aziz Mohammed is a Saudi literary author, born in Khobar City in 1987. His debut novel The Critical Case of a Man Called K was published in 2017 and was shortlisted in 2018 for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, known as the "Arabic Booker." He was the youngest and the first debut author to be shortlisted in the history of this prestigious prize. He has since participated in cultural programs of literary festivals, book fairs, and cultural centers all around the Middle East as a literary author and cinema critic.

Humphrey Davies is a translator of Arabic fiction, historical, and classical texts. A two-time winner of the Saif Ghobash-Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation, he is also the recipient of English PEN's Writers in Translation Award. He has translated Naguib Mahfouz, Elias Khoury, Mourid Barghouti, Alaa Al Aswany, and Bahaa Taher, among others. He lives in Cairo, Egypt.