What I'm Reading

Miramar by Naguib Mahfouz.
Mahfouz won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1988, and one of my goals is to read a book by each of the Nobel Prize winners.  Mr. Mahfouz is number 37 of 103.  What I find common in all of them is a social, and political focus.
The story is "set in Alexandria in the early 1960's.  Six characters, all exiles by circumstances, are brought together in the decayed elegance of the Pension Miramar.  The central figure is Zohra, the beautiful peasant girl, whose relationship with the other five characters symbolically reflects the most basic political and social realities of the period."  The introduction is by John Fowles, another great writer.
The historical content is mostly in the 66 notes at the back of the book.  These are about the political events in Egypt during the early part of the 20thCentury.  In 1914, using the war as an excuse, the British deposed Khedive Abbas Hilmy, the Sultan, and established a Protectorate, suspending the powers of the Legislature.  After the war a delegation, in Arabic a wafd, led by Saad Zaghloul demanded independence from the British.  Saad and 3 others were arrested and deported, and this led to demonstrations.  800 Egyptians were killed before the British relented and freed Saad.  After 3 years of continued struggle the British allowed a Monarchy, with limited powers, under Fuad I.  During the 30 years of occupation the Wafd became the dominant political party, a democratic liberal leaning political part].  The second revolution in 1952, led by Nasser, a socialist, put an end to the monarchy, the Wafd and the occupation.  The failure of the Wafd Party to be more aggressive in their opposition to the British created the exiles of this story.

And in the New York Times:
Americans spent $28.1 Billion on health supplements, many of them to lose weight.  One of the popular ones from China is Pai You Guo.  The Feds say it has 2 dangerous ingredients plus a suspected carcinogen.
Nashville this spring had a lot of visitors...cicadas... it happens every 13 years.
Who's the most economically optimistic in the USA ... Washington, D.C. [the only one with a positive view]  Least: West Virginia.  NY is 20th.
The latest to be 'Glitter Bombed' is Newt Gingrich.  It's Gay political theater against hostile or insensitive public figures.
One of the participants in the housewives series committed suicide.  Before the suicide he told his mother: "they're just going to crucify me this season".