Egyptian readers mourn ALEF bookstores
▻https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/02/egyptian-readers-lament-loss-of--alef-bookstores.html
La grosse et très bonne chaîne de librairies Alef ferme ses portes en Egypte. Question très philosohique : vaut-il mieux de bonnes librairies financées par des capitaux islamiques ou pas de librairies du tout. Sissi a tranché.
In the Cairo International Book Fair, the oldest and largest annual literary gathering in the Middle East, there is one conspicuous absence this year. ALEF, one of the regulars with a huge stand in the past, is no longer there to offer books from small publishers and budding writers. The bookstore chain closed the last of its 37 branches on Dec. 28 after allegations that it was linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.
For Cairo’s bibliophiles, ALEF was a book lover’s paradise: a good and varied selection of books, good prices and good salespeople with a knack for finding requested books and suggesting new ones to suit customers’ taste.