An Unnecessary Woman
Rabih Alameddine
The Text Publishing Company
<p><i>You could say I was thinking of other things when I shampooed my hair blue, and two glasses of red wine didn't help my concentration. Let me explain.</i><p><i>At the end of the year, before I begin a new project, I read the translation I've completed. I do final corrections (minor), set the pages in order, and place them in the box. This is part of the ritual, which includes imbibing two glasses of red wine.</i><p><p>Aaliya lives alone with her books - books she has collected over a lifetime, books she translates into Arabic with no likelihood that they will ever be read. With her accidentally blue-dyed hair, her cantankerous dealings with her neighbours and her difficult relationship with her family, Aaliya is a character you will never forget.</p><p><i>An Unnecessary Woman </i> is a sublime novel, a love letter to literature and its power to define who we are.</p><p><b>Rabih Alameddine</b> is the author of the novels <i>Koolaids</i>, <i>I, the Divine</i> and <i>The...</p></p></p></i></p>