Rawi Hage Book order (chronological)

Documenting German performance duo Prinz Gholam's choreographic work Since 2001 Berlin-based performance artists Wolfgang Prinz and Michel Gholam, otherwise known as Prinz Gholam, have been critiquing constructs of the self and the body. Following in the spirit of their self-published booklets, this artist's book catalogs their performances.

A searing and visionary novel set in war-torn 1970s Beirut, from an author praised for his fierce poetic originality (Boston Globe) and uncompromising vision (Colm Tóibín).

Es gibt zwei Sorten von Taxifahrern: Die Fliegen und die Spinnen. Die Spinnen warten geduldig am Stand auf einen Auftrag aus der Zentrale. Aber die Fliegen sind rastlose Wanderer – sie durchstreifen die Straßen, immer auf der Suche nach einer winkenden Hand. Fly ist so ein Wanderer – er ist im Zirkus großgeworden, als Sohn einer goldhaarigen Trapezkünstlerin und des Manns auf dem Fliegenden Teppich. Er lebt in einem wahren Labyrinth aus Büchern – die Gänge zwischen den deckenhohen Stapeln sind so schmal, dass er gerade noch hindurchpasst. Dieses Zuhause ist seine Zuflucht vor einer Welt, deren Hässlichkeit und Ungerechtigkeit er in seinem Taxi täglich erlebt. Er transportiert Prostituierte zur Arbeit, Drogendealer zum 'Geschäftstermin' und natürlich auch ganz normale Leute. Aber als der Karneval beginnt, verschwimmen alle Grenzen.

Bassam und George, genannt De Niro, wachsen im kriegszerstörten Beirut auf. Während De Niro sich der christlichen Miliz anschließt, versucht Bassam, dem Bombenregen zu entkommen. Bald wird De Niro zu seinem größten Feind.

Cockroach is as urgent, unsettling, and brilliant as Rawi Hage's bestselling and critically acclaimed first book, De Niro's Game. The novel takes place during one month of a bitterly cold winter in Montreal's restless immigrant community, where a self-described thief has just tried but failed to commit suicide. Rescued against his will, the narrator is obliged to attend sessions with a well-intentioned but naive therapist. This sets the story in motion, leading us back to the narrator's violent childhood in a war-torn country, forward into his current life in the smoky emigre cafes where everyone has a tale, and out into the frozen night-time streets of Montreal, where the thief survives on the edge, imagining himself to be a cockroach invading the lives of the privileged, but wilfully blind, citizens who surround him. In 2008, Cockroach was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Governor General's Literary Award, and the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. It won the Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction, presented by the Quebec Writers' Federation.

De Niro's Game is the award-winning debut novel by Lebanese author Rawi Hage, who also wrote Cockroach. The story follows childhood best friends Bassam and George, who grow up on the Christian side of war-torn Beirut. As they approach adulthood, they face a pivotal choice: stay in their corrupt, exhausted city or seek a new life abroad. Bassam, desperate to escape, resorts to petty crimes to fund his journey to the West. In contrast, George embraces the city's underworld, gaining power through military service, organized crime, and violence. Their diverging paths ultimately collide, leading to explosive consequences. Hage's novel serves as a poignant exploration of two young men and a city scarred by war. Critics have praised it as a masterpiece, highlighting its nuanced portrayal of the psychological impact of conflict and the vivid descriptions that bring Beirut to life. Hage, who experienced the Lebanese civil war firsthand, has received acclaim for his powerful storytelling and has won multiple literary awards. He currently resides in Montreal.