Mustafa, a former student radical, sets out to tell the story of the children of Cairo who make their home on the streets, but he has to rely on the help of his American girlfriend, Marcia, whom he is not sure he can trust. Meanwhile, his former leftist friends are now all either capitalists or Islamists. Alienated from a corrupt and corrupting society, Mustafa watches as the Cairo he cherishes crumbles around him. Shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction.