Born and raised in Beirut,
Naji Bakhti graduated from the American University of Beirut (Lebanon, 2011). He recently obtained a PhD in Creative Writing from Lancaster University.
Between Beirut and the Moon is his first book.
At the
Guardian, Bakhti tagged ten "books about Lebanon which do not immediately concern themselves with the civil war, except when they do." One title on the list:
A House of Many Mansions by Kamal Salibi
At the age of 12, I was asked by the pre-eminent historian in the land, Dr Kamal Salibi, about my latest history lesson at school. 
When I mentioned the Phoenicians, he shook his head and suppressed a smile as if I had just relayed a lewd joke beyond my years. In A House of Many Mansions, Salibi proceeds to dismantle the founding myth of Phoenicianism (that the Lebanese are the descendants of Phoenicians), while also dissecting Arab nationalism and other competing narratives. Crucially, he offers a sweeping, eloquent reinterpretation of Lebanese history that exposes the many facets of a country in crisis.
Read about
the other entries on the list.
--Marshal Zeringue
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