''The Hakawati'' ("storyteller" in Arabic) is a novel written by

Rabih Alameddine Rabih Alameddine ( ar, ربيع علم الدين; born 1959) is a Lebanese-American painter and writer. His 2021 novel ''The Wrong End of the Telescope'' won the 2022 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. Early life Alameddine was born in Amman, Jor ...

and published by

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

in 2008. The novel explores Lebanese families and cultures, and was well received by critics.

Plot summary

Set in 2003, a young man travels from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

to his father's death-bed in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. He and relatives share contemporary stories and parables during the vigil.

Characters

*Afreet Jehanam *Baybars *Elie *Farid al-Kharrat *Fatima *Ismail *Lina *Mariella *Osama al-Kharrat *Othman *Uncle Jihad

References

Alfred A. Knopf books 2008 American novels American LGBT novels Lebanese novels Novels by Rabih Alameddine Novels set in Lebanon {{2000s-LGBT-novel-stub