Papa Sartre: A Modern Arabic Novel

After a failed study mission in France, Abd al-Rahman returns home to Iraq to launch an existentialist movement akin to that of his hero. Convinced that it falls upon him to introduce his countryÕs intellectuals to SartreÕs thought, he feels especially qualified by his physical resemblance to the philosopher (except for the crossed eyes) and by his marriage to Germaine, who he claims is the great manÕs cousin. Meanwhile, his wealth and family prestige guarantee him an idle life spent in drinking, debauchery, and frequenting a well-known nightclub.
But is his suicide an act of philosophical despair, or a reaction to his friendÕs affair with Germaine? A biographer chosen by his presumed friends narrates the story of a somewhat bewildered young man whoÑlike other members of his generationÑwas searching for a meaning to his life.
This parody of the abuses and extravagances of pseudo-philosophers in the Baghdad of the sixties throws into relief the Iraqi intellectual and cultural life of the time and the reversal of fortune of some of IraqÕs wealthy and powerful families.