Lifted by the Great Nothing

(Paperback)

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Description

Max lives with his father, Rasheed, a sweet, funny man who fled Lebanons civil war for New Jersey when Max was a baby. Rasheed is enamoured of his idea of America baseball and barbeques and has tried to shed his Lebanese heritage completely. When we are in America, Reed tells his son, we are Americans. Rasheed has a singular purpose in life to provide Max with a happy childhood. Though Max cant be made happy by the treehouse and musical instruments his father offers, he recognises his fathers need and assures him as sincerely as he is able that he is indeed happy, too happy, as Reed would have it. Max has always believed his mother was murdered by burglars in Lebanon, but when he turns seventeen, he learns from Rasheeds ex-girlfriend that his father has been lying to him. Maxs father has secrets dating from the war that have grave consequences relevant to Maxs life today. As Max begins searching for the truth, from suburban America to Beirut and Paris, he unravels his true history. Poignant, surprising and beguiling Lifted by the Great Nothing is a tale of surprising love stories and unsettling misadventures, of re-evaluation and renewal.

Reviews

The characters immediately drew me in to this funny, heartbreaking novel they are brilliantly alive. Karim Dimechkie is one of the most psychologically attuned, wise and evocative young novelists Ive read. Read this startling debut. * Kevin Powers, Guardian First Book Award-winning author of The Yellow Birds *
Karim Dimechkie is a promising young writer with a fresh, subversive take on the exile and immigrant experience and the stains it leaves on those who survive it or inherit it. Heres a talent to watch and follow. * Jim Crace *
A hugely original, big hearted and staggering debut. Karim Dimechkies talent leaps off of every page. I know his book will stay with me a very long time. * Philipp Meyer, Pulitzer Prize-nominated author of The Son *

Author Bio

Karim Dimechkie is a fellow at the Michener Center for Writers in Austin, Texas. Before that he taught English in Paris, France. He lives in Boston, MA. This is his first novel.