I decided to read this book after it was sent to me as a suggested read via NextReads. I'm glad I decided to read it. In fact the book was listed as an ALA Notable Book earlier this year, In 2003, Osama al-Kharrat returns to Beirut after many years in America to stand vigil at his father's deathbed. Beirut is now a shadow of its former self- the city of his childhood and youth. As he sits by his father's bedside memories come back to him of his family and especially his grandfather's stories. Osama's grandfather was a hakawati, or storyteller, and his enchanting 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, beautifully told.
A magical and moving book to read.
