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The Sleep Thief
- Author
- Ibtisam Azem
- Narrator
- Peter Ganim
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 22 September 2026
- Run Time
- 2 hours 54 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
From Booker-longlisted Ibtisam Azem, a haunting odyssey where rest must be stolen at high price, and “Palestine” is a honeyed defiance on the tongue.
“Sleep thief is what the interrogator called me. I’ll never forget that. I would steal a few seconds of sleep so I could remain steadfast before them. The name stuck; I even dreamt about it, the same dream, night after night. I woke up not knowing what to do and drenched in sweat.”
The Sleep Thief follows the life of Gharib (“the Stranger”) Haifawi as he comes of age, is drawn into resistance, makes friends, meets lovers, pushes back against traditional values, longs to be free of the labels and expectations that burden him, rails against the commodification of suffering, and dreams of a Palestinian identity that will transcend sorrow.
Critics Review
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“The bohemian Gharib Haifawi is an irresistible guide through the dreams and nightmares of a Palestine that still exists despite the violent superimposition of the Israeli state. Written in prose that evokes in the spirits of Emile Habibi and Daniil Kharms, The Sleep Thief is a surreal, brilliant dagger of a book.”
Molly Crabapple
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“Ibtisam Azem’s The Sleep Thief is the surreal and gorgeously imagined story of Palestinian Gharib Haifawi of Haifa. Rendered in the poetic register of a dream, this narrative tracks its protagonist’s coming of age against the historical years between the Naksa and the Intifadas. This beautiful debut novel is a portrait of resistance, grief, and ultimate triumph.”
Hannah Lillith Assadi
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Ibtisam Azem
- Narrator
- Peter Ganim
- Duration
- 2 hours 54 minutes
- Release Date
- 22 September 2026
- ISBN
- 9798228972056
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- Narrative theme: Interior life, Fiction: general and literary, Narrative theme: Politics
Synopsis
From Booker-longlisted Ibtisam Azem, a haunting odyssey where rest must be stolen at high price, and “Palestine” is a honeyed defiance on the tongue.“Sleep thief is what the interrogator called me. I’ll never forget that. I would steal a few seconds of sleep so I could remain steadfast before them. The name stuck; I even dreamt about it, the same dream, night after night. I woke up not knowing what to do and drenched in sweat.”The Sleep Thief follows the life of Gharib (“the Stranger”) Haifawi as he comes of age, is drawn into resistance, makes friends, meets lovers, pushes back against traditional values, longs to be free of the labels and expectations that burden him, rails against the commodification of suffering, and dreams of a Palestinian identity that will transcend sorrow.
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