In "The Bartender," author Ashraf El-Ashmawi writes: "I know my customer's taste from their eyes, from their body movements, from their tension, their nervousness, and their calm. Each has their drink, and each has a way of making it. We live in a large bubble; the clever one among us is he who steps out of it to look at it from afar, seeing others clearly, reading their thoughts, then returning to fulfill their needs, thus achieving the ecstasy for which they came." The protagonists of this novel are a strange blend of socially, culturally, and financially diverse characters carefully chosen by the author, who delves deep into each of them. All are united by the ancient Zamalek district and Qasr El Nil Street in downtown Cairo, and most meet in a famous bar on the Nile in that same historic district, where Ashraf El-Ashmawi transports us to a strange world with its precise and astonishing details, using beautiful, fluid language and a wonderful narrative style to present human tragedies that pierce the heart and exciting, fast-paced events interspersed with strange, surprising crimes that end with even stranger conclusions.