"In the Orient Cinema, I was sitting next to a man of about forty, with a dark face, who smoked a lot. Smoking was not forbidden in the cinema. Before the movie started, he told me the story of Hercules. He said: Steve Reeves lived with them in Al-Anfushi and was a bodybuilding champion in the neighborhood. He talked to them and walked away." He worked in cinema in Hollywood. Oh, by God.. This is what he swore and continued the story: But because I love him, I came to watch his son... of poor origin! This was my first cigarette. I started coughing with every breath, and he told me: Don't drag your breath inside for a little while until you learn.. from him, for God's sake! *** Wonderful, never-ending stories told by the great writer Ibrahim Abdel Majeed about cinema since his childhood, bringing back to us beautiful human beings, cities that have disappeared, cinemas that were demolished, and unforgettable films, and how his understanding of cinema progressed over time, and how this affected his literary life.

"إبراهيم عبد المجيد كاتب مصري كبير. تُرجمت له العديد من رواياته إلى لغات أخرى، وفاز بأهم الجوائز المصرية والعربية . وهذه الرواية فازت عام 1996 بجائزة نجيب محفوظ من الجامعة الأمريكية في عامها الأول وتُرجمت إلى الفرنسية والإنجليزية والألمانية .