The Hakawati, Paperback Book, By: Rabih Alameddine

'Stunning' New York Times Book Review '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, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Less 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. 'Sharp, seductive storytelling' O, The Oprah Magazine About Rabih Alameddine Rabih Alameddine is the author of the novels An Unnecessary Woman I, the Divine Koolaids The Hakawati and the story collection, The Perv.