Leg Over Leg

Leg Over Leg is the semi-autobiographical account of Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq, a pivotal figure in the intellectual and literary history of the modern Arab world. His adventures and misadventures provided him with opportunities for wide-ranging digressions on the intellectual and social issues of his [...]
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Leg Over Leg is the semi-autobiographical account of Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq, a pivotal figure in the intellectual and literary history of the modern Arab world. His adventures and misadventures provided him with opportunities for wide-ranging digressions on the intellectual and social issues of his time, including the ignorance and corruption of the Lebanese religious and secular establishments, women's rights, the manners and customs of Europeans and Middle Easterners, and the differences between European and Arabic literature. In Leg Over Leg, al-Shidyaq also celebrates the beauty of the Arabic language. Akin to Sterne and Rabelais in his satirical outlook and technical inventiveness, al-Shidyaq produced in Leg Over Leg an unprecedented sui generis work. It was initially widely condemned for its attacks on authority, its skepticism, and its "obscenity," and later editions were often abridged. This is the very first English translation of the work and reproduces the original edition, published under the author's supervision in 1855.