Hey, it's Empire's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbong. Rabi Alamandine's mom is 82 years old.

Physically, she's doing great for her age, but her memory is going. It's something a lot of people

with aging parents can relate to, I figure. And so, he wrote a novel about a high school teacher

who has to care for his

elderly mother. It's titled The True Story of Roger the Gullible and his mother. And yes,

Alamedin's own experiences with his mom influenced the book, but he tells NPR Scott Simon that

as a novelist, every experience he has, from the big, emotional ones to the more mundane everyday

activities, make it into his work

in some form or another. That's ahead.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts,

diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, sources and methods. NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,

helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

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Raja, who teaches philosophy to high schoolers, has lived through Beirut's civil wars and

strife for kidnapping, the banking collapse, COVID, and the Great Port Explosion.

But his most vexing test may be sharing his apartment with his 82-year-old, sharp-tongued, dope

smoking, an utterly charming mother, Zalfa, of whom he writes that

deciphering her was a feat that would surely have flummoxed Hercules, my mother, as the

unthinkably impossible 13th task. The true, true story of Raja the Gullabal and his mother is

the new novel from Rabbi Alamedin. He joined us in our studios.

Thanks so much for being with us. Thank you so much for having me.

Why does Roger call himself the gullible, the imbecile, the neurotic clown, the dimlythe?

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