The Hakawati

''Stunning'' New York Times Book Review ''Here it comes, the book of the year, on its own magic carpet. No book this bewitching has ever felt so important; no book this important has ever been so lovingly enchanted. The Hakawati is both a snapshot of our current crisis, and a story for the ages. What else can we ask the djinn of literature for?'' Andrew Sean Greer, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Less In 2003, Osama al-Kharrat returns to Beirut after many years in America to stand vigil at his father''s deathbed. As the family gathers, stories begin to unfold: Osama''s grandfather was a hakawati , or storyteller, and his bewitching tales are interwoven with classic stories of the Middle East. Here are Abraham and Isaac; Ishmael, father of the Arab tribes; the beautiful Fatima; Baybars, the slave prince who vanquished the Crusaders; and a host of mischievous imps. Through Osama, we also enter the world of the contemporary Lebanese men and women whose stories tell a larger, heartbreaking tale of seemingly endless war, conflicted identity, and survival. With The Hakawati , Rabih Alameddine has given us an Arabian Nights for this century. ''Sharp, seductive storytelling'' O, The Oprah Magazine