Lannan Visiting Chair Rabih Alameddine Named 2025 National Book Award Finalist 

A banner of Rabih Alameddine and his book, The True True Story of Raja the Gullible. Rabih is seated in a wooden chair behind a table, his mug is front of his enclosed hands.

Posted in Announcements

On October 7th, 2025, the five finalists of the 2025 National Book Award for Fiction were announced. Lannan Visiting Chair Rabih Alameddine‘s novel The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)  was amongst the finalists. Alameddine’s seventh novel tells the tale of a Lebanese family across six decades—from the Lebanese Civil War to the Covid-19 pandemic—with humor and heartbreak.

Alameddine was previously a National Book Award for Fiction finalist in 2014 for his novel, An Unnecessary Woman.

The winners of the 76th National Book Awards will be announced live at the NYU Skirball on November 18th, 2025.

Read more from National Book Foundation’s announcement.

Read more from New York Times‘ article.