The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)

"Rabih Alameddine made a splash with his novel The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) , which won the 2025 National Book Award for Fiction, as well as the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. In it, a high school philosophy teacher and his mother share a tiny Beirut apartment. Desperate for privacy and self-fulfilment, he is offered a fellowship in the United States—and must grapple with his resentment and love for his prying mother."