Tayeb Salih is internationally known for his classic novel Season of
Migration to the North. With humour, wit and erudite poetic insights,
Salih shows another side in this affectionate memoir of his exuberant
and irrepressible friend Mansi Yousif Bastawrous, sometimes known as
Michael Joseph and sometimes as Ahmed Mansi Yousif. Playing Hardy to
Salih's Laurel Mansi takes centre stage among memorable 20th-century
arts and political figures, including Samuel Beckett, Margot Fonteyn,
Omar Sharif, Arnold Toynbee, Richard Crossman and even the Queen, but
always with Salih's poet "Master" al-Mutanabbi ready with an adroit
comment.