An Interview with Lannan Visiting Chair Rabih Alameddine in the New York Times

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On September 28, 2025, an interview with Lannan Visiting Chair Rabih Alameddine  was published in the New York Times.

From “Rabih Alameddine Is Done With Dostoyevsky”

What books are on your night stand?

I have a lamp and a CPAP machine on my night stand, so no space for books. My queen-size bed is divided into quadrants; I sleep in one, my two cats get one each, and one is for books. The cats tell me this is a fair arrangement. On the bed: Scholastique Mukasonga’s “Our Lady of the Nile” (finished); Horacio Castellano Moya’s “Senselessness” (reading); Patrick Ryan’s “Buckeye” (next); and Thomas Bernhard’s “Wittgenstein’s Nephew” (rereading soon, because his disgust with the world seems appropriate these days).

What book might people be surprised to find on your shelves?

Many. I read everything, particularly when I’m depressed. A good friend was shocked that I liked Janet Evanovich’s “One for the Money.”

Who is your favorite fictional hero or heroine?

Cleopatra, of course. I was 15 when I read “Antony and Cleopatra.” I desperately wished for a gorgeous general who was willing to die for me and say, as he’s dying, “I am dying, Egypt, dying.” I’ve always wanted a lover who would consider me an entire country.

Continue reading an interview with Rabih Alameddine in the New York Times.