Woman at Point Zero

The story takes place in the early 1970s. The author, Dr. Saadawi is a psychiatrist and consultant for the women's prison. A young woman named Firdaus is scheduled to be executed for fatally stabbing her pimp. Thus far Firdaus has refused to speak to anyone, but Dr. Saadawi breaks through and thus a novel is born. Firdaus is born to a poor family. Her parents die and she goes to live with her perverted uncle. He gets married and wants to be rid of Firdaus so he sends her to boarding school. She finishes her secondary school exams placing 7th in all of Egypt. Her uncle and his wife decide that sending her to university would be a waste of time as there aren't that many job opportunities available. So, they marry her off to a sheik, who's supposed to be a real catch. He's plenty old enough to be her grandfather, and prone to tirades and violence that cause his repulsive facial sores to ooze pusty goo. Prior to this "arranged" marriage Firdaus contemplates escaping, but realizing how limited her options are acquiesces. Eventually, the marriage becomes unbearable and she flees only to be "rescued" by a pimp. She goes through a series of pimps, and one madam, before having a major epiphany. Firdaus realizes she has been selling herself short. Drastically raising her prostitution rate makes her a hot commodity. Being a product of American pop culture myself this came as no great surprise to me. After all, some of my compatriots have been known to spend as much as $50,000 for a handbag. This concept of setting the price too high in order to raise the product's perceived worth in the eyes of the consumer is known in the advertising industry as "prestige pricing." Firdaus sets herself up as a freelance pro. She has a nice apartment and picks and chooses her clients, and has free-time to pursue intellectual interests. Before long she has another major revelation after a male friend, whom she believes respects her as an astute liberated woman, lets her know that she's "just a whore." She then decides to get an "honest" 9 to 5 job working for the government. In doing so she must drastically reduce her standard of living. She is in for a rude awakening as she discovers the subculture of office politics. Not only did she make far more money as a prostitute she got more respect. Putting out is one of the unwritten rules of the job description. Coincidentally, two nights before I read this book I saw a TV show about one of Nevada's legal brothels. The pimp, or CEO, boasted that their top "girl" grossed half a million dollars last year. That's more than 10 times what the average teacher makes (if not for the union they would make even less) and five times that of a nurse practitioner (HMOs don't mind paying this because it's still far cheaper than hiring MDs). Firdaus' story takes place about 35 years ago and I know there have been a lot of positive changes since then, but I wonder how many of them are cosmetic. Two days after reading Firdaus' story I

Women at Point Zero is a novel based on an actual woman that Al Saadawi met in a women's prison in Cairo. Firdaus, a woman on death row for killing a pimp, tells the story of her life. Firdaus begins life as a lower-class rural peasant, ending up as a high-priced prostitute with no illusions about her place in society. Awesome book.

I disagree with other reviewers who write that this book is an eye-opener to the terrible lives of Muslim women, or oppressed women in other places. This is absolutely true--it does give the reader a glimpse into the limited and terrifying lives of some Egyptian women; however, the book is much broader in scope than this aspect. This is a book for all women everywhere. The specifics of the story involve an Egyptian woman who works as a prostitute, who kills a pimp and is executed. However, if you read this book and come away feeling that you are so lucky, or that the lives of "those" women over "there" are really oppressed, you have missed the bigger picture. Although the specifics mentioned above are true, the point of the story is much larger. This short novel is gut-wrenching at the superficial level, and life-wrenching if you read it more deeply. With spare prose and powerful imagery, it forces you to think about yourself and what you are doing with your life. It forces you to question for what you are selling your life. Although the main character is a tragic one, her journey and her intelligence teach her the meaning of freedom. This is one of the most profoundly existential books I've ever read.This is not an easy read. It is not luxurious, or beautiful. It packs a punch, like a practiced boxer with a powerful left hook. A new friend recommended it to me and offered to lend me her copy. I agreed to borrow it and she ran to her bag and pulled it out--turns out she always carries it with her as an inspiration, although it's probably not the kind of inspiration you're thinking. Read this book. Challenge yourself. I'm ordering my own copy right now and will always have it with me, ready to lend to new friends or old friends.

If you want to read about a strong, non-Anglo, feminist perspective, read Ms. Saadawi's work. After reading this book about battered souls and battered women, I was compelled to volunteer at a domestic violence center. This book doesn't just encourage you to read this story, and stew at home; it makes you want to act out and do something to prevent violence in any form.

The treatment is savage and exact--the only manner of writing that could do justice to the material. Because of this, the novel is a quick read, but it is not a light one. I haven't read a prose style this beautiful since Les Guerilles (Wittig) or Carver's "A Small, Good Thing." Combined with this, her understanding of the neurotic (and its origins) outpaces Margaret Atwood by leagues. Sadat imprisoned her for her writings, and I can see why. It's striking.