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The Hakawati - or, The Storyteller - is a sweeping, wildly imaginative feast of a novel, bursting with the myths of the Middle East. At its emotional core is the reunion of a long-standing Beiruti family, whose patriarch is dying and visited on his deathbed by his children and by memories of his ancestors. Rabih Alameddine tells their stories - of crusades and battles; chicanery, betrayal and sex; family rivalry, family disunity and family life - and spins them together with the historical stories of the region, but with a twist. Born in Beirut, living in San Francisco, and writing in English, Alameddine not only spans both Western and Middle-Eastern culture, but does so as one of the most mischevious and inventive writers at work. While the Fatima of legend gives birth to the son of the lord of the Underworld, it is to the accompaniment of a vocal set of imps disguised as parrots. The evil conqueror of the known world is called Arbusto - or 'Bush' in Portuguese. This kind of colour overlays the harsh violence of the real world, whether it be the suffering and disruption of civil war, the loss of a parent, or the difficulties of adolescence and sexual awakening. The Hakawati is a kaleidoscopic tour of the Middle East: of conflict, of religion, of family; and in Alameddine's hands even the most venerable and familiar of tales emerge with outrageous humour, unscripted sex, and a humanity that is uniquely his own.
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Review:
'gloriously mesmorising...a series of wonderfully vivid and spellbinding tales of adventure, bravery, passionate love affairs.'
Book Description:
Exhilarating, heartbreaking, mischievously exuberant - this glorious novel is a Midnight's Children for the Middle East
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- PublisherPicador
- Publication date2008
- ISBN 10 0330456202
- ISBN 13 9780330456203
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages528
- Rating
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The Hakawati
Published by
Pan Macmillan
(2008)
ISBN 10: 0330456202
ISBN 13: 9780330456203
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Book Description Trade Paperback. Condition: Near Fine. Trade Paperback. 513 pages. *** PUBLISHING DETAILS: Pan Macmillan, 2008. *** CONDITION: This book is in near fine condition. More specifically: Covers have no creasing or wear. Spine is uncreased. . Pages are lightly tanned. This book is an unread copy. *** ABOUT THIS BOOK: In 2003, Osama al-Kharrat returns to Beirut after many years in America to stand vigil at his father's deathbed. The city is a shell of the Beirut Osama remembers, but he and his friends and family take solace in the things that have always sustained them: gossip, laughter, and, above all, stories. Osama's grandfather was a hakawati, or storyteller, and his bewitching stories--of his arrival in Lebanon, an orphan of the Turkish wars, and of how he earned the name "al-Kharrat," the fibster--are interwoven with classic tales of the Middle East, stunningly reimagined. Here are Abraham and Isaac; Ishmael, father of the Arab tribes; the ancient, fabled Fatima; and Baybars, the slave prince who vanquished the Crusaders. Here, too, are contemporary Lebanese whose stories tell a larger, heartbreaking tale of seemingly endless war--and of survival. Like a true hakawati, Rabih Alameddine has given us an "Arabian Nights" for this century--a funny, captivating novel that enchants and dazzles from its very first lines: "Listen. Let me take you on a journey beyond imagining. Let me tell you a story." *** Quantity Available: 7. Category: Fiction; Action & Adventure; ISBN/EAN: 9780330456203. Inventory No: 10022004. This item is in stock in our Australian warehouse. We are not dropshippers. Seller Inventory # 10022004
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The Hakawati
Published by
Picador
(2008)
ISBN 10: 0330456202
ISBN 13: 9780330456203
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Book Description Softcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. First Edition. The wraps are tidy overall with little edge rub. The binding is excellent. The pages are lightly tanned but clean with no inscriptions or annotations. Extra postage required unless posted within South Africa. JHK. Our orders are shipped using tracked courier delivery services. Seller Inventory # d95du
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Sehr gut. Schnitt etwas vergilbt u. minimale Abplatzung am Cover, kleine Lagerspuren am Buch, Inhalt einwandfrei und ungelesen 232503 Sprache: Englisch Gewicht in Gramm: 700. Seller Inventory # 338803
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The Hakawati
Published by
Pan Macmillan
(2008)
ISBN 10: 0330456202
ISBN 13: 9780330456203
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Paperback
Quantity: 1
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Light shelf wear. Else clean and tight. Seller Inventory # mon0000124667
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