{"product_id":"true-true-story-of-raja-the-gullible-hc","title":"True True Story of Raja the Gullible HC","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eWINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e“Alameddine is a writer with a boundless imagination.”—NPR\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\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\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\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\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\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\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\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, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is a wildly unique and sparkling celebration of love.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Friends of the Mill Valley Library","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51741014065383,"sku":null,"price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0730\/3397\/3991\/files\/81a8kPRbb8L._SL1500.jpg?v=1769123482","url":"https:\/\/friendsmvl.org\/products\/true-true-story-of-raja-the-gullible-hc","provider":"Friends of the Mill Valley Library","version":"1.0","type":"link"}