The Hakawati

By: Rabih Alameddine

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Paperback | 6 June 2019 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
528 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
3.4 x 12.3 x 19.8

Paperback

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An astonishingly inventive, wonderfully exuberant novel that takes us from the shimmering dunes of ancient Egypt to the war-torn streets of twenty-first-century Lebanon.

In 2003, Osama al-Kharrat returns to Beirut after many years in America to stand vigil at his father's deathbed. As the family gathers, stories begin to unfold: Osama's grandfather was a hakawati, or storyteller, and his bewitching tales are interwoven with classic stories of the Middle East. Here are Abraham and Isaac; Ishmael, father of the Arab tribes; the beautiful Fatima; Baybars, the slave prince who vanquished the Crusaders; and a host of mischievous imps. Through Osama, we also enter the world of the contemporary Lebanese men and women whose stories tell a larger, heartbreaking tale of seemingly endless war, conflicted identity, and survival.

With The Hakawati, Rabih Alameddine has given us an Arabian Nights for this century.

About the Author

Rabih Alameddine was born in Beirut in 1959 but now lives in San Francisco. He is also a well-known artist and has had shows in many of the major capitals of the world.

Industry Reviews

Sharp, seductive storytelling - O, The Oprah Magazine

Stunning - New York Times Book Review

A riot of stories concerning the rise of the eccentric al-Kharrat family. Osama [al-Kharrat]'s waggish grandfather was a hakawati, or storyteller, and his classic tales of princes, genies, and wise-cracking seductresses are worthy of Scheherazade. Rabih Alameddine has a deft, winsome touch - Entertainment Weekly

An epic in the oldest and newest senses, careening from the Koran to the Old Testament, Homer to Scheherazade. It's hard to imagine the person who wouldn't get carried away - Jonathan Safran Foer

"Here it comes, the book of the year, on its own magic carpet. No book this bewitching has ever felt so important; no book this important has ever been so lovingly enchanted. The Hakawati is both a snapshot of our current crisis, and a story for the ages. What else can we ask the djinn of literature for? - Andrew Sean Greer, winner of the Pulitzer Prize

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