Rabih Alameddine's THE TRUE TRUE STORY OF RAJA THE GULLIBLE (AND HIS MOTHER) - January 2026 Book Club

About this episode

The episode discusses Rabih Alameddine's novel, exploring its themes and narrative style.

Have you ever finished a book you absolutely loved but found hard to explain? In this episode of Unabridged , we’re discussing our January 2026 Book Club pick, National Book Award winner The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)  by Rabih Alameddine ( Bookshop . org | Libro . fm ), which is brilliant in ways that are sometimes hard to articulate. Before diving into the discussion, we start with a bookish check-in: Ashley shares about Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man)  by Jesse Q. Sutanto ( Bookshop . org | Libro . fm ), and Jen talks about Life on a Little-Known Planet: Dispatches from a Changing World  by Elizabeth Kolbert ( Bookshop . org | Libro . fm ). From there, we dig into Raja the Gullible , talking about Raja’s unforgettable narrative voice, the novel’s nonlinear structure, and the way humor and tragedy coexist on the page. We explore Raja’s complicated, tender relationship with his mother, the impact of memory and trauma across decades, and how personal stories are shaped by larger national and historical forces. We also share book pairings, give this one a resounding five bookish hearts, and wrap up with a couple of Unabridged…

People in this episode

Hosts: Ashley Dickson-Ellison, Jen Moyers

Topics covered

• book discussion
• literary analysis
• memory and trauma
• humor and tragedy
• book recommendations

Keywords

• Rabih Alameddine
• The True True Story of Raja the Gullible
• book club
• January 2026
• literary themes
• memory
• trauma
• book recommendations

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm

Books & works: The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother), Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man), Life on a Little-Known Planet: Dispatches from a Changing World

More episodes of Unabridged: A Book Podcast

• Romances for the Beach · June 10, 2026 · 22 min
• Maggie O'Farrell's HAMNET - May 2026 Book Club · May 27, 2026 · 40 min
• Cozy Mystery Recommendations for 2026 · May 13, 2026 · 22 min
• Sherri L. Smith’s FLYGIRL - April 2026 Book Club · April 22, 2026 · 38 min
• Books about Animals · April 8, 2026 · 25 min
• John Schu’s LOUDER THAN HUNGER - March 2026 Book Club · March 25, 2026 · 39 min