This graphic novel imagines what would happen if you could buy and sell wishes
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Loading... - Chiara Accardi
- 20 Jan 2023
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If Egyptian comics artist and writer Deena Mohamed ever encountered a genie, she knows what she'd wish for. She'd wish for everyone she loved to live to age 120. And she'd wish for any book she ever wanted to read to appear right in front of her eyes.
"If I ever come across a genie, I have to be ready," she says. "They have to be smart wishes."
Wishes are the theme of her debut graphic fantasy novel, Shubeik Lubeik, Arabic for "your wish is my command," published this week by Pantheon Books. The book follows Shokry, a kiosk owner in Cairo, Egypt, as he tries to sell off three wishes he inherited from his father. A pious Muslim, he refuses to use the wishes on himself because he worries they might not be in the spirit of Islam — but meets three Egyptians whose lives can be radically transformed by the power of a wish.
The book highlights the fantastical — there are dragons, talking donkeys and a hilarious scene where someone wishes for a BMW and gets a toy car. But the story is also remarkably grounded in the realities of modern life in Egypt, a country where nearly 70% of citizens live on less than $5.50 a day. Along with authentic illustrations of Cairo's locals and cityscape, the book has characters who grapple with poverty, economic inequality, a poor health-care system and preventable disease. Read More…
