{"product_id":"the-true-true-story-of-raja-the-gullible-and-his-mother-a-novel-national-book-award-winner-9780802168436","title":"The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother): A Novel (National Book Award Winner)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Alameddine is a writer with a boundless imagination.\"--NPR\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the winner of the PEN\/Faulkner Award for Fiction comes a tragicomic love story set in Lebanon, a modern saga of family, memory, and the unbreakable attachment of a son and his mother\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn a tiny Beirut apartment, sixty-three-year-old 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 son's desire for privacy as a personal affront. She demands to know every detail of Raja's work life and love life, boundaries be damned.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Raja receives an invite to an all-expenses-paid writing residency in America, the timing couldn't be better. It arrives on the heels of a series of personal and national disasters that have left Raja longing 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 forget.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTold in Raja's irresistible and wickedly funny voice, the novel dances across six decades to tell the unforgettable story of a singular life and its absurdities--a tale of mistakes, self-discovery, trauma, and maybe even forgiveness. Above all, \u003ci\u003eThe True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)\u003c\/i\u003e is a wildly unique and sparkling celebration of love.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Grove Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/01\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780802168436\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 336\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.05lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.40h x 5.70w x 1.60d","brand":"Rabih Alameddine","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52774275940533,"sku":"9780802168436","price":15.3,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-true-true-story-of-raja-the-gullible-and-his-mother-a-novel-national-book-award-winner-9780802168436","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}