“Can you imagine how lonely she must have felt when she received that phone call? Your lover has just died, your companion has abandoned you, but don't you dare make an inappropriate sound, because your family is around. No one to touch you the way he did, no one to understand you, no one to hug you to sleep, but don't dare allow your face to show a glint of grief. The cutting pain of feeling alone amid loved ones.”

Lebanese painter and writer

Rabih Alameddine is a Lebanese painter and writer known for his novels and essays. His work has received major recognition, including the 2022 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the 2025 National Book Award for Fiction. He is best known as a novelist, with The Wrong End of the Telescope winning the PEN/Faulkner Award and The True True Story of Raja the Gullible taking the National Book Award. As a writer and painter, he is associated with literary work that has earned broad critical attention.