Politics, jokes, social issues, love tips and the importance of tomatoes, these are some of the themes of the articles by Mohamed Baraka, a journalist in Cairo-based Al-Ahram Arabic-language newspaper, in his latest book, Have an Annoying Morning. The book, written in simple slang Arabic, starts with an article-like preface describing why he has written the book and why it is so entitled. In fact this very preface turns out to be the best part of the entire book. " 'I'm not your son ma, I'm the son of Egypt and the River Nile is my father'. At this point of the play all the people in my village used to clap their hands because thirty years ago we were different," Baraka says in the preface, describing a play that he and the children of his neighbourhood in the Nile province of Damietta would perform every night. The writer says that the Egyptians' lifestyle has changed, even in the countryside, because of TV and satellite channels, which have dispelled the traditional nightly Egyptian gatherings, when such plays were performed. "We were still kids and the carcinogenic pesticides hadn't taken away our innocence yet; neither had the group sexual harassment incidents started and nor did we suffer from the governmental slogan ‘Where can we get what the people need?'," Baraka adds. The first article in Have an Annoying Morning is about Egyptian football and its remarkable popularity. It focuses on the two most popular football teams in the country: Ahly, who keep on winning, and Zamalek. 'Why did I refuse to support Ahly, who always won, and love Zamalek, who always lost?' is the title of the six-page article, which gives 25 reasons for the writer's choice. "It's our destiny to be different from other nations… two football teams are really popular in the street, leaving aside the ruling party and the weak opposition parties," he says. Baraka explains that Ahly, being winners, deceive their fans and make them live in a false state of victory "that might make them forget that their country is living a series of defeats", while Zamalek's fans are psychologically balanced. The 137-page book consists of 16 articles tackling different topics and issues with almost nothing in common but the author and his irony. Among the interesting articles in Have an Annoying Morning is 'You write and the readers insult you', in which he talks about the add-a-comment feature in online newspapers. "There is apparently a misunderstanding that makes 'Add a comment' reads as 'Add a slur'. Even when the writer politely thanks his readers for offending him, they reply, 'Don't worry, it's our duty'," Baraka adds. In Have an Annoying Morning, published by Madbouly Publishing House, the writer uses a lot of symbols from his early years in the village, for example in the 'Why do we treat donkeys badly?' article, when Baraka compares Egyptians and donkeys. "Donkeys love routine, have no free will and are extremely patient, no matter how badly you treat them. This is true, but we should better bear in mind another fact: these characteristics now represent all of us as a people and a nation." The book is full of such comparisons using animals, vegetables and a lot of Egyptian idioms. Although Baraka includes some long, pointless articles like the one about buying a gift for a woman, which seems quite irrelevant and nothing to do with the theme of his book Have an Annoying Morning fairly illustrates many current social and political issues in Egypt. Have an Annoying Morning By Mohamed Baraka Published by Madbouly Publishing House in Cairo 137 pages LE20
