{"product_id":"9781917453837","title":"Rotten Evidence by Ahmed Naji","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAhmed Naji \u003c\/strong\u003econfronts what happens when one's fundamentally unserious, oversexed youth dovetails with an authoritarian, utterly self-serious regime.-\u003cstrong\u003eZadie Smith\u003c\/strong\u003e, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Fraud\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn February 2016, \u003cstrong\u003eAhmed Naji\u003c\/strong\u003e was sentenced to two years in prison for \"violating public decency,\" after an excerpt of his novel \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eUsing Life\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e reportedly caused a reader to experience heart palpitations. Naji ultimately served ten months of that sentence in Cairo's Tora Prison. \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eRotten Evidence\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e is a record of those months. Through Naji's writing, the world of Egyptian prison comes into vivid focus, with its cigarette-based economy, homemade chess sets, and well-groomed fixers. Naji's storytelling is lively and uncompromising, filled with rare insights into the mundane and grand questions he confronts: \u003cstrong\u003eHow does one secure a steady supply of fresh vegetables without refrigeration?\u003c\/strong\u003e How does one write and revise a novel in a single notebook? Fight boredom? Build a clothes hanger? Negotiate with the chief of intelligence? And, most crucially, \u003cstrong\u003ehow does one make sense of a senseless oppression: finding oneself in prison for the act of writing fiction?\u003c\/strong\u003e Genuine and defiant, this book is a testament to the power of the creative mind in the face of authoritarian censorship.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Paperback","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56420457709941,"sku":"9781917453837","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781917453837.jpg?v=1764608590","url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/products\/9781917453837","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}