BRIEF ENCOUNTER

In our time, which demands both more understanding of and a greater recognition of literature other than our own, how could The Times relegate Naguib Mahfouz’s novel “Palace of Desire” to the Feb. 3 column “In Brief”?

This major work of literary art by the Middle East’s best-known fiction writer and a Nobel Prize winner deserves a full review so that others may appreciate this prominent and vital voice.

WILLIAM H. KOON

Professor, Department of English and Comparative Literature

Cal State Fullerton

FULLERTON