In this Book

  • Leg Over Leg: Volume One
  • Book
  • Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq
  • 2013
  • Published by: NYU Press
summary
Leg over Leg recounts the life, from birth to middle age, of ‘the Fariyaq,’ alter ego of Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq, a pivotal figure in the intellectual and literary history of the modern Arab world. The always edifying and often hilarious adventures of the Fariyaq, as he moves from his native Lebanon to Egypt, Malta, Tunis, England and France, provide the author with grist for wide-ranging discussions of the intellectual and social issues of his time, including the ignorance and corruption of the Lebanese religious and secular establishments, freedom of conscience, women’s rights, sexual relationships between men and women, the manners and customs of Europeans and Middle Easterners, and the differences between contemporary European and Arabic literatures. Al-Shidyaq also celebrates the genius and beauty of the classical Arabic language.
 
Akin to Sterne and Rabelais in his satirical outlook and technical inventiveness, al-Shidyaq produced in Leg Over Leg a work that is unique and unclassifiable. It was initially widely condemned for its attacks on authority, its religious skepticism, and its “obscenity,” and later editions were often abridged. This is the first English translation of the work and reproduces the original Arabic text, published under the author’s supervision in 1855.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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  1. Title Page, Letter, Copyright
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  1. Table of Contents
  2. pp. vii-viii
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  1. Foreword
  2. Rebecca C. Johnson
  3. pp. ix-xxx
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  1. A Note on the Text
  2. pp. xxxi-xxxiii
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  1. Notes to the Frontmatter
  2. pp. xxxiv-xl
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  1. LEG OVER LEG, VOLUME ONE
  2. pp. 1-4
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  1. Contents of the Book
  2. pp. 5-6
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  1. The Dedication of This Elegantly Eloquent Book
  2. pp. 7-8
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  1. Author’s Notice
  2. pp. 9-16
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  1. An Introduction by the Publisher of This Book
  2. pp. 17-20
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  1. Proem
  2. pp. 21-34
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  1. BOOK ONE
  1. Chapter 1: Raising a Storm
  2. pp. 37-64
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  1. Chapter 2: A Bruising Fall and a Protecting Shawl
  2. pp. 65-72
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  1. Chapter 3: Various Amusing Anecdotes
  2. pp. 73-84
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  1. Chapter 4: Troubles and a Tambour
  2. pp. 85-92
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  1. Chapter 5: A Priest and a Pursie, Dragging Pockets and Dry Grazing
  2. pp. 93-108
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  1. Chapter 6: Food and Feeding Frenzies
  2. pp. 109-116
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  1. Chapter 7: A Donkey that Brayed, a Journey Made, a Hope Delayed
  2. pp. 117-124
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  1. Chapter 8: Bodega, Brethren, and Board
  2. pp. 125-134
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  1. Chapter 9: Unseemly Conversations and Crooked Contestations
  2. pp. 135-148
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  1. Chapter 10: Angering women who Dart Sideways Looks, and Claws like Hooks
  2. pp. 149-162
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  1. Chapter 11: That which Is Long and Broad
  2. pp. 163-174
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  1. Chapter 12: A Dish and an Itch
  2. pp. 175-190
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  1. Chapter 13: A Maqamah, or, a Maqamah on “Chapter 13”
  2. pp. 191-202
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  1. Chapter 14: A Sacrament
  2. pp. 203-212
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  1. Chapter 15: The Priest’s Tale
  2. pp. 213-222
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  1. Chapter 16: The Priest’s Tale Continued
  2. pp. 223-244
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  1. Chapter 17: Snow
  2. pp. 245-254
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  1. Chapter 18: Bad Luck
  2. pp. 255-282
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  1. Chapter 19: Emotion and Motion
  2. pp. 283-312
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  1. Chapter 20: The Difference between Market-men and Bag-men
  2. pp. 313-320
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  1. Notes
  2. pp. 321-350
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  1. Glossary
  2. pp. 351-354
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 355-365
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  1. About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute
  2. p. 366
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  1. About the Typefaces
  2. p. 367
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  1. About the Editor-Translator
  2. p. 368
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