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The Lebs

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The Lebs

By: Michael Mohammed Ahmad
Narrated by: Hazem Shammas
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About this listen

Winner of the Premiers Literary Awards Multicultural NSW Award 2019

Longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award 2019

'Bani Adam thinks he's better than us!' they say over and over until finally I shout back, 'Shut up, I have something to say!'

They all go quiet and wait for me to explain myself, redeem myself, pull my shirt out, rejoin the pack. I hold their anticipation for three seconds, and then, while they're all ablaze, I say out loud, 'I do think I'm better.'

As far as Bani Adam is concerned Punchbowl Boys is the arse end of the earth. Though he's a Leb and they control the school, Bani feels at odds with the other students, who just don't seem to care. He is a romantic in a sea of hypermasculinity.

Bani must come to terms with his place in this hostile, hopeless world, while dreaming of so much more.

©2019 Michael Mohammed Ahmad (P)2019 Hachette Australia Audio Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction

Critic Reviews

"An open-eyed and highly charismatic novel broiling with fight, tenderness and ambition." (Big Issue)

"in its vibrancy, its warty candour and willingness to engage with the messy business of people falling out of their known worlds without knowing where to go next, The Lebs is a strong and resonant novel that deserves to be widely read.","There is a fine ironic intelligence glowing beneath the most jarring images, the most awful events.","an open-eyed and highly charismatic novel broiling with fight, tenderness and ambition.","The Lebs provides a confronting and admirably frank examination of one young man's coming of age in contemporary Australia. (Jay Daniel Thompson)","There's an art to capturing the absolute riot that a group of Year 10 boys can cause, and Ahmad has mastered it."
All stars
Most relevant
the complexity of the writing in explaining social dynamics in Australia is confronting. It hits powerfully highlighting what Lebanese Australians navigate. the vulnerability of the lead character is palpable and its a challenge to navigate the stereotypes the author projects, confronts.

an unsettling and confronting story i could not step away from.

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Shocking, tragic, hilarious, familiar, endearing, heart wrenching, disgraceful, all at once in a swirl of frustration, anger, helplessness, confusion, brainwashed self righteousness and finally... some hope...

Brace yourself

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Wonderful capture of the narrator's experiences, ovservations (unfiltered) and personal insights. He paints the environment, vernacular and cultural discord in bright, bold and sometimes shocking language. It is as confronting as it is beautiful. I loved it. And appreciated it. Thank you

Honest hard hitting and evocative.

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Wow - The Lebs was hard to listen to at first & I didn’t think I could do it until I realised it was about teenaged boys & all their bravado & BS. Really worth listening to & getting into the minds of these young guys. Great story!

Authentic (coming of age??) story

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beautifully written, authentic cultural perspective with insights into a life different from my own.

unfamiliar yet relatable

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Whoa.
As a white, middle class Aussie women, this book took me on a journey of discovery that I’m not sure I ever wanted to take, but now am really glad I did. Whoa. My head is still spinning.

What a journey

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Too crude for me. Very realistic I'm sure but don't need that to understand the Western Sydney diaspora.

The aggression, the misogyny the distorted view of Aussie girls!

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A great look at life for arab Australians and the barriers that they and non-arab Australians are presented with, build or reinforce. Heaps of swearing and sexual references, but contextually appropriate and we'll performed. looking forward to the next book Ahmad writes

raw and real

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The Lebs by Doctor Michael Mohammed Ahmad.

This novel took me back to my high school years, as I too attended high school in the late 90s early 2000s, and went to a high school in Western Sydney. The characters, dialogue and world was authentic to the time and place of the novel. It also makes valid arguments about bad behaviour by young marginalised communities in Western Sydney and who’s to blame? The media, government, the failed education system? Additionally, Ahmad subtly tells you through fictional anthropology, that if you were placed in these circumstances this could be you too. He also brilliantly juxtaposes Punchbowl High School with Bankstown Arts Centre in which “bad behaviour” is seen differently depending on who is observing and who is participating in the bad behaviour. He also has so many references to literature, and he uses each and every reference exceptionally. There is so much more to say but I haven’t the time. Definitely, a must read.

Brilliant, authentic, analytic

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Any Australian who has attended a multicultural school will be able to identify with the characters. As the narrator was speaking I was back in the classroom listening to the boys tell the Aussie girls that they would screw as many of us as they could before settling down with a nice ethnic girl. Although the scene that was set had a promising story line it failed to go anywhere. I was waiting for something to happen and it didn't.

Waiting

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.