Song for the Missing
by Pierre Jarawan
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Pub Date Apr 05 2022 | Archive Date Apr 04 2022
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Description
24 MUST-READ 2022 BOOKS IN TRANSLATION as selected by BOOK RIOT
"Lebanese German author Jarawan (The Storyteller) movingly evokes life in Lebanon in his affecting and complex latest. This is a gripping, human look at a tragedy that still haunts an entire nation."—Publishers Weekly
It’s 2011 and the Arab Spring is in full bloom when the discovery of two bodies in Beirut sows the first seeds of unrest in Lebanon. With houses already burning, Amin sets out to write down his memories of the country: Of the year 1994, when he returned as a teenager with his grandmother, twelve years after his parents’ deaths. Of his friendship with Jafar, the boy who explored the desolate postwar landscape with him. And of the painful discovery that there will never be certainty—neither about his friend’s past nor his family’s history. In this novel full of mystery and suspense, friendship and loss, searches and secrets, Jarawan skillfully interweaves a deeply personal story with the tumultuous history of the Middle East.
Advance Praise
Praise for Song for the Missing
“A love letter to Lebanon and its people—a deft, sensitive book that steers clear of ‘oriental’ clichés, with a poetic narrative voice.” —DANIEL SPECK, screenwriter
“It’s a family story, and it’s also a story of identity. It is a story of the entanglements of the Middle East and the Europeans and it is also—I think—a coming-of-age story.” —Bayern 2 “Diwan: Das Büchermagazin”
“A story that gets under your skin and shows that our lives are always the sum of everything that happened to the previous generations.” —Münchner Merkur
“A highly poetic book in an equally poetic language. You literally immerse yourself in such an oriental world full of stories and atmospheres.” —Deutschlandfunk Kultur “Lesart”
“Pierre Jarawan once again proves to be a magician of language. He writes in a clear, poetic language that is deeply moving and impresses with enchanting and atmospheric images of Lebanon’s cities. In a virtuoso way, Jarawan links the events of the Middle East, the civil war, and the Arab Spring with the life of the narrator—a story of Lebanon you won't forget.” —Freie Presse
“Despite the lightness of the novel, which can also be read as a coming-of-age, love, friendship, and family story, it is a critical examination of Lebanon. Jarawan’s narration retains the lightness he displayed in his debut, which has been translated into many languages.” —Süddeutsche Zeitung
“Pierre Jarawan speaks confidently and warmly of the wounds of the war, repressed trauma, and the attitude towards life of a generation with limited hope. A wonderfully poetic—but also political—novel about Lebanon. Absolutely recommended.” —Abendzeitung München
“A new Jarawan as we love him: sensitive, exciting, and tightly linked to the eventful history of the Middle East.” —Rheinischer Spiegel Online
“Pierre Jarawan lets Lebanon come alive over decades in a sensual and factual manner, but also the friends Amin and Jafar, their thoughts and feelings, their strength, their abysses." —Welt am Sonntag
“Jarawan manages to maintain the high level of his first book. With his typical passion for telling stories, the fun of wonderfully poetic linguistic images that manage to bring smells and tastes to life, and a gripping and touching story, he again manages to bring Lebanon closer to us historically, politically, and emotionally.” —Galore Literatur
“This moving novel is dedicated to 17,000 people who disappeared without a trace during 15 years of civil war. But Jarawan also portrays the beauty and poetry of the country and recalls the great tradition of the Hakawati, the Arab storytellers.” —Madame
“A gripping story that touches the central trauma of today’s Lebanon.” —Der Standard
“Such a touching and gripping book!” —SRF2 Kultur “Kontext”
“With the way Jarawan tells his story, he has created a little masterpiece.” —Ö1 “Ex libris”
“Jarawan’s second novel imparts a great deal of geopolitical and contemporary historical knowledge, stimulates reflection on exile and art—and translates these complex topics into interwoven, twisting stories around a convincing ensemble of characters in a vivid and confident manner. A book that is worth reading repeatedly.” —LiteraturSeiten München
“You could say: ‘Someone is repeating his recipe for success.’ In fact, Song for the Missing is spun even more finely—a book that goes much further beyond the family scenario.” —Bayern 2 “radioTexte: Das offene Buch”
“The reader strolls and wanders through strange worlds of fragrant, intense street scenes full of sweet melancholy, biting fear, and teasing irony, where the imagination and grit of the shrewd Beirut youth are as at home as the memories of the countless people who turned into ‘the missing,’ when they disappeared forever.” —Stadtkind
“The new novel by Pierre Jarawan: sensitive, exciting, and virtuoso linked to the dramatic history of the Middle East.” —Erlesen
Marketing Plan
• Landing Page http://bit.ly/PierreJarawan
• Digital assets: Trailer, quote cards, author video, beautiful photos and videos of Lebanon taken by author
• Bookseller quote campaign
• Advance reader and digital reader copies
• ABA White Box Mailing
• National TV, radio, print, and online review campaign
• Virtual or in-person author events
• Book club discussion guide
• Bookstore co-op available
• Excerpt placement
• Social media campaign
• Giveaways: Goodreads & Shelf Awareness
Available Editions
EDITION | Other Format |
ISBN | 9781642861075 |
PRICE | $19.99 (USD) |
PAGES | 464 |
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