2025 selection · Literary fiction

The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)

Lebanese philosophy teacher Raja narrates six decades under his formidable mother’s influence. Family misadventures unfold alongside civil war, migration, instability, and the pandemic.

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Why it matters

Alameddine preserves family contradictions within Lebanon’s turbulent modern history.

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Read this if…

You enjoy expansive family tales led by witty narrators.

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Ideas inside

Lebanonfamilywarmemory

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