Egyptian writer - highly recommended

While in Egypt recently, I was turned onto a wonderful writer, Alaa Al Aswany. "The Yacoubian Building" was a great read and a breakthrough novel in Egypt, as it deals with sexuality in a frank way that is, apparently, new to the literature there. You come away understanding, among other things, why young men turn to jihad. (Actually there are two kinds of hijad - the spiritual struggle everyone faces in one way or another - and the radical political type which the vast majority of Muslims deplore). Al Aswany has also written a novel called "Chicago" I am eager to read.