The Hakawati

I am so glad to see that the latest masterpiece, The Hakawati, by my friend, the sinfully underrated Rabih Alameddine, is finally getting some of the attention it so greatly deserves:

Sunday Book Review, May 18, 2008
Once Upon Many Times
If any work of fiction might be powerful enough to transcend the mountain of polemic, historical inquiry, policy analysis and reportage that stands between the Western reader and the Arab soul, it’s this wonder of a book — a book not about a jihadi but a hakawati (Arabic for storyteller). “Listen,” Rabih Alameddine invites. “Allow me to be your god. Let me take you on a journey beyond imagining. Let me tell you a story.” (Read More)


All Things Considered, May 18, 2008
The Pull of the 'Hakawati'
Rabih Alameddine discusses his new book, The Hakawati. As the protagonist sits by the bedside of his dying father, the reader is pulled into an otherworldly web of stories inspired by Arab legend, Greek myth and the Bible. (Listen Now)