{"product_id":"the-true-true-story-of-raja-the-gullible-and-his-mother","title":"The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Alameddine is a writer with a boundless imagination.\"--NPR\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom National Book Award finalist and 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\/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, The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) is a wildly unique and sparkling celebration of love.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Grove Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52559032451379,"sku":"9780802166470","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0741\/6181\/5859\/files\/9780802166470.jpg?v=1761233305","url":"https:\/\/www.bluebirdcrozet.com\/products\/the-true-true-story-of-raja-the-gullible-and-his-mother","provider":"Bluebird \u0026 Company Crozet","version":"1.0","type":"link"}