James E. Montgomery is The Sir Thomas Adams’s Professor of Arabic at Fellow of Trinity Hall, Department of Middle Eastern Studies, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge.

• Preface; Part I: Physiognomy of An Apocalyptic Age; Part II: The Book of Living; Part III: The Jaḥiẓian Library Under Attack; Part IV: The Salvific Book; Part V: The Architecture of Design; Part VI: Appreciating Design; Postface; Appendix: The Praise of Books; Bibliography; Endnotes.

Readers who think of al-Jahiz as a sophist or a buffoon have a surprise coming. Montgomery's wrestling match with the Book of Living affords unexpected views of the Abbasid mind, and puts al-Jahiz at the centre of the most vital and momentous debates of his age.

James E. Montgomery is The Sir Thomas Adams’s Professor of Arabic at Fellow of Trinity Hall, Department of Middle Eastern Studies, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge.

• Preface; Part I: Physiognomy of An Apocalyptic Age; Part II: The Book of Living; Part III: The Jaḥiẓian Library Under Attack; Part IV: The Salvific Book; Part V: The Architecture of Design; Part VI: Appreciating Design; Postface; Appendix: The Praise of Books; Bibliography; Endnotes.

Readers who think of al-Jahiz as a sophist or a buffoon have a surprise coming. Montgomery's wrestling match with the Book of Living affords unexpected views of the Abbasid mind, and puts al-Jahiz at the centre of the most vital and momentous debates of his age.

James E. Montgomery is The Sir Thomas Adams’s Professor of Arabic at Fellow of Trinity Hall, Department of Middle Eastern Studies, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge.

• Preface; Part I: Physiognomy of An Apocalyptic Age; Part II: The Book of Living; Part III: The Jaḥiẓian Library Under Attack; Part IV: The Salvific Book; Part V: The Architecture of Design; Part VI: Appreciating Design; Postface; Appendix: The Praise of Books; Bibliography; Endnotes.

Readers who think of al-Jahiz as a sophist or a buffoon have a surprise coming. Montgomery's wrestling match with the Book of Living affords unexpected views of the Abbasid mind, and puts al-Jahiz at the centre of the most vital and momentous debates of his age.