Doktor Bey's Bedside Bug Book Paperback – January 1, 1978 by Derek Pell 
 
 From inside the book: 
Of all Doktor Bey's many books, the Bedside Bug Book re.
mains his personal favorite, and understandably so;
for it was his furst effort. In 1893, young Bey self-published
this extraordinary volume in a limited edition of fire copies,
each signed by the author and bound in silkworm
(Bombyx mori). Unfortunately, there remains no trace
of the original edition, a fact that greatly saddens its
creator We know that the first edition fell prey
to bookworms, and the good Doktor now regularly uses
fumigators.
"Just think of the price a university would' ve paid,"
remarked Bey during our first meeting at his home in
Cairo. 'I'd have been a wealthy man!"
Myself included, since I have acted as his exclusive
literary agent for the past forty years, an occupation that
until recently, was an invitation to Debtor's Prison. I,
too, am filled with remorse. I, too, could have been wealthy.
Of course, my faith in his genius has never fagged, and if
it did, 1 choose not to recall it. I knew in my heart of hearts
that I had in Doktor Bey a true original, yet my creditors
remained skeptical. ""He's a deadweight, darling," instructed
my wife on countless occasions, adding demurely: "Drop
him." Yet 1 persisted. Doktor Bey persisted. My wife ran
off with a legionnaire.
Digressions aside, 1 have been handsomely subsidized
by the publisher to introduce this unintroducible volume
a masterpiece of hist orical desecration, a drama of dreams,
mightmares, and misplaced dates-a book for the bedside.
a mirror for the basement of our social conscience, an
anthropological bidet! In other woTds, the Truth. Yes,
here is a book unafraid to chronicle the transgressions Of
and
the human race--irrespective of inaccuracy, innuendo
(on occasion) vivid distortion-so as to advance the cause of
universal justice.
Perhaps.
In hope of discovering
shortcut to the conclusion of
this prelude, 1 recently returned to Egypt and asked
the
author þointblank: "But what in essence,
does the book
mean?"
The old man. sat in silence for many minutes, then
smiled, winked, and left the room.
His message was clear.
Quite frankly, I know
it would
what Doktor Bey is getting at, but
be most unwise to reveal
discover it for himself.
it now. Each reader must
reader pleasant dreams
As for me, 1 will simply wish the
and, here, turn out the light.
Derek Pell
Weymouth, England
March 2, 1978
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