Rabih Alameddine The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) : Winner

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION! Relentlessly funny The New YorkerDarkly comic . . . I loved it The GuardianFrom the inimitable Rabih Alameddine winner of the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award comes a tragicomic saga set in Lebanon, a modern story of family, memory, and the unbreakable (and insane) attachment of a son and his mother. In a tiny Beirut apartment, sixtythreeyearold Raja and his mother live side by side. A beloved high school philosophy teacher and the neighborhood homosexual, Raja relishes books, meditative walks, order, and solitude. Zalfa, his octogenarian mother, views her sons privacy as a personal affront. She craves nothing more than to know the ins and outs of Rajas work life and love life, boundaries be damned. When Raja receives an invite to an allexpensespaid writing residency in America, the timing couldnt be better. It arrives on the heels of a series of personal and national disasters that have left Raja itching for peace and quiet away from his mother and the heartache of Lebanon. But what at first seems a stroke of good fortune soon leads Raja to recount and relive the very disasters and past betrayals he wishes to leave behind. Wickedly funny, heartbreaking, and told in Rajas irresistible voice, The True, True Story of Raja the Gullible dances across six decades to tell the unforgettable story of a singular life and its absurdities a tale of mistakes, selfdiscovery, trauma, and maybe even forgiveness. Above all, its... | Rabih Alameddine The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) : Winner