WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD “Alameddine is a writer with a boundless imagination.”—NPR From 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 In 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. When 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. Told 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. Praise for The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) Winner of the National Book Award Finalist for the Aspen Words Literary Prize One of TIME Magazine’ s 100 Must-Read Books of 2025 One of NPR’s Books We Love of 2025 One of the Washington Post ’s 10 Best Audiobooks of 2025 One of the Washington Independent Review of Books ’s Favorite Books of 2025 One of the Globe and Mail' s 100 Best Books of 2025 One of BookPage ’s Best Fiction Books of 2025 One of Shelf Awareness' s Best Books of 2025 One of Apple's Best Books of 2025 One of the Los Angeles Times 's 101 Best Book Club Picks for Every Type of Reader "Rabih Alameddine’s The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) confronts war, sexual violence, economic collapse, disaster, and pandemic. It’s an artistic exploration of the darkest aspects of existence, and as such, has no business being as funny as it is. Alameddine brilliantly uses the comic form to depict the world as it is, and to remind us that, despite everything, there is joy to be wrung from life."— National Book Award for Fiction Judges "This sprawling tale centers on Raja, a man in his sixties who lives with his mother in Beirut, a city shaking with political and ecological turmoil. While the duo—both outsized personalities—navigate their cohabitation, Raja must weigh the responsibility he feels as a son against an opportunity to attend a writing residency in America. Raja’s energetic narration is relentlessly funny, even (or especially) when it’s turned to dark or disturbing events from his past. The story jumps back and forth through time and across continents, but Raja’s sensitive and ultimately optimistic point of view is a gripping anchor."— The New Yorker “Thoroughly absorbing.”— Washington Post "The first joke in Alameddine’s National Book Award-winning novel is on the cover: The parenthetical “and His Mother” is set in a mischievously small font. It soon becomes clear that there’s nothing slight about her, or her impact on the life of her son, a gay high school teacher in Beirut. Raja is quiet and introspective, and his mother stomps his boundaries with the fervor of Godzilla. I love how effortlessly Alameddine blends tragedy and comedy, and the novel is sure to spark commiseration from anyone with a relentlessly nosy relative—in other words, everybody. Open a bottle (better yet, a box) of wine and get ready to hear some wild stories from your frustrated friends."— Michael Schaub, Los Angeles Times , "101 Best Book Club Picks for Every Type of Reader" “Alameddine’s prose is winsome, warm-hearted, and very funny, but it is still sophisticated in its evocation of the trauma Raja suffers. At the heart of the novel is the mother Raja keeps trying to consign to parentheticals, who, with indomitable spirit, refuses to be consigned. This book is a treat from beginning to end.”— Vox , “The 10 Best Books of 2025” "This book—winner of the 2025 National Book Award for fiction—feels like sitting down with an old friend who is a brilliant storyteller. It’s an amusing and beautifully written portrait of a mother and her middle-aged son that lingers long after you finish it. Rabih Alameddine’s prose is so warm and vivid that you can almost hear him talking to you as you read. I loved his tender, nuanced portrayal of Raja’s prying mother, Zalfa, and how he captures the complicated bond between mothers and their children."— Linah Mohammad, producer, All Things Considered "The only quality uniting his bo
