Between Beirut and the moon - A. Naji Bakhti

A young boy comes of age in post-civil-war Beirut, with conflict, and comedy lurking round every corner. Adam dreams of becoming an astronaut but who has ever heard of an Arab on the moon? He battles with his father, a book-hoarding journalist, his closest friend, Basil, a Druze who is said to worship goats and believe in reincarnation, and a host of other misfits in a city attempting recover from years of political violence. Adam's youth oscillates from laugh out loud escapades, to near death encounters, as he struggles to understand the turbulent and elusive city he calls home.