Description:
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.
Brief description: Ibtisam Azem is a Palestinian novelist and journalist. She has published two novels in Arabic: Sariq al-Nawm (The Sleep Thief, 2011) and Sifr al-Ikhtifaa (The Book of Disappearance, 2014). The Book of Disappearance has been published in English, German, and Italian. She lives in New York.
Review Quotes:
"The bohemian Gharib Haifawi is an irresistable 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
"Azem deftly evokes the daily grind of being an Arab in Israel . . . The Sleep Thief is about how trauma interrupts the flow of a life, to devastating effect." --Sara Baume, Irish Times
"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
"Ibtisam Azem marvels us in The Sleep Thief. Azem has a unique ability to narrate the daily life of Palestinians made strangers in their homeland. With incisive precision and clever subtlety, we learn what it means to live among a settler society dressed in civilian clothing rather than fatigues. Meanwhile, we are so enthralled in Gharib's intimate battle that we reach the book's end unaware whether it was all a dream or if Gharib has slept at all. It will be difficult to read The Sleep Thief just once." --Noura Erakat
"Ibtisam Azem's oracular novel-in-stories The Sleep Thief concerns a Palestinian man's experiences in his troubled homeland . . . The contrasts between never belonging to Israel as an Arab Palestinian, while still loving the ancestral land, are excavated with poignancy . . . Entrancing." --Foreword Reviews
"The Sleep Thief is a haunting novel that lingers in the mind long after reading . . . In shining a light on the systemic subjugation and unrelenting occupation of the Palestinian people, it serves as a quiet call for dignity--a witness to a collective struggle and a hopeful plea that Palestinians everywhere may soon reclaim their stolen sleep, restore their tomorrows, and dare to dream freely once again."--ArabLit
"From the author who gave us the incomparable The Book of Disappearance, this sharp novella is a fast, captivating read. In brief, almost short story-like vignettes, it follows Gharib Haifawi, a Palestinian living in the Zionist state, through his life as he grows up, finds and loses love, experiences the violence of Zionist prison, interfaces with his colonizers, and tries in different ways to resist. Azem's words and tales are as brilliant and vital as ever." --Mizna
"An insightful portrait of a young man, with everything that implies . . . by viewing his formative experiences of love, lust, drunkenness, and death, set against a backdrop of conflict and violence, the effects are profound, powerfully empathetic, and incredibly moving from first page to last." --Alistair Braidwood, The Skinny
Praise for Ibtisam Azem's The Book of Disappearance:
"Speculative and haunting, this is an exceptional exercise in memory-making and psycho-geography" --The International Booker Prize 2025 Judges
"A thought-provoking examination of the complex dynamics of Israeli-Palestinian cohabitation." --Ángel Gurria-Quintana, 2024 Books of the Year, Financial Times
"Incredible . . . beautifully translated by Sinan Antoon . . . In The Book of Disappearance, silence is cold, it doesn't respond, it haunts." --Sarah Shaffi, Jhalak Review
"Seductively bold . . . This rich, potent novel reminds us that there are no easy answers." --John Self, The Guardian
"The Book of Disappearance . . . in a stunning translation by poet Sinan Antoon . . . could not be more timely." --Catherine Taylor, Irish Times
"Using a magical realism as cool and lacerating as that of Borges, Azem builds the story of a young Israeli journalist and his vanished Palestinian friend into a devastating exploration of the nakbah, betrayal, erasure, and love of home. For lovers of Palestinian literature, The Book of Disappearance has earned its place beside Saher Khalifa's Wild Thorns, and thanks to Sinan Antoon's masterful translation, Anglophone readers can now experience this thrilling, essential work." --Molly Crabapple
"This is an extraordinary novel, full of heartache, longing and love for Palestine, its immensely absorbing fantasy shining a dazzling light on the most important story of our time. Azem's writing is magnetic - I loved every page of this unforgettable book." --Mirza Waheed