{"product_id":"9781472160546","title":"The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) : Winner of the National Book Award","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor:  Rabih Alameddine \u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eModern \u0026amp; contemporary fiction (post c 1945)\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 12 November 2026 by Little, Brown Book Group (Corsair) in the United Kingdom\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback | 336 pages\u003cbr\u003e196 x 127 x 24 | 268g\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION!'Relentlessly funny' The New Yorker'Darkly comic . . . I loved it' The GuardianFrom the inimitable Rabih Alameddine - winner of the National Book Award and the PEN\/Faulkner Award  - comes a tragicomic saga set in Lebanon, a modern story of family, memory, and the unbreakable (and insane) attachment of a son and his mother.\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 privacy as a personal affront. She craves nothing more than to know the ins and outs 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 itching 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 leave behind.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWickedly funny, heartbreaking, and told in Raja's irresistible voice, The True, True Story of Raja the Gullible 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, it's a wild and sparkling celebration of love.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Bookhouse Broughty Ferry","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57718853927287,"sku":"9781472160546","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0357\/3199\/6807\/files\/9781472160546.jpg?v=1793973944","url":"https:\/\/thebookhousebroughtyferry.co.uk\/products\/9781472160546","provider":"The Bookhouse Broughty Ferry","version":"1.0","type":"link"}