The Hakawati

The plot of this book feels almost impossible to describe. On its most basic and fundamental level, it's about a Lebanese man, Osama, who has been living in the United States since he was a teenager and returns to Beirut to visit his dying father, telling not only his story but that of his parents. And grandparents. And great-grandparents. His paternal grandfather was a hakawati, a professional storyteller, and the stories Osama was told by his grandfather as well as his uncles and cousins and friends make up a large portion of the book. It's a fantastic read for someone with ADHD (like yours truly) because the stories are layered over each other, constantly interrupting each other, each one sometimes receding and sometimes coming to the fore. While I ended up loving this quality of the book, it made it a little hard to get into at first. The ground constantly felt like it was shifting under my feet, but it was kind of like being on a boat: once you fall into the rhythm, it feels very natural. Alameddine does an incredible job keeping all of his plates in the air, creating interesting and vivid characters, keeping the narrative moving forward and keeping the reader engaged. To sum it all up as a story about storytelling feels like its giving the book short shrift but is also very much true. I ended up really enjoying it, and it feels very much like a book that will be a good one to revisit someday, as Alameddine clearly understands the pleasure of a familiar story well-told.