From the man the 'New Yorker' declared 'a genius', here is a ridiculously enjoyable, tragicomic collection of essays about raising a son and losing a father.
Etgar Keret Books
Etgar Keret is an Israeli writer renowned for his short stories, graphic novels, and screenwriting for film and television. His works have been translated into over thirty languages, showcasing a distinctive blend of humor, absurdity, and profound humanity. Keret masterfully navigates themes of identity, memory, and human connection, often finding the extraordinary within the ordinary. His concise and impactful style captures the essence of the human experience, leaving a lasting impression on readers.







Kneller's Happy Campers
- 86 pages
- 4 hours of reading
Kneller's Happy Campers is a strange, dark but funny tale set in a world very much like our own but it's an afterlife populated by people who have killed themselves - many of them are young, and most of them bear the marks of their death...
"Witty, wise, and wild, Etgar Keret's stories are a powerful fictional punch, snapshots that illuminate the dark absurdities, sublime beauty, and hidden truths in everyday life."--Provided by publisher
"You need to bribe someone into giving you weed? Don't worry, just step into this court room and call the defendant a murderer. You're a rich, lonely man and you want the joy of company? Don't worry, just buy up people's birthdays, and you'll have friends calling every day. You need to get girls into bed? Don't worry, you know a writer you can strong-arm into writing you a very persuasive story. You're stood on the edge of a very high building, with all of your wretched sorrows? Don't worry, fly already! In these 22 short stories, absurdity leaks out of the cracks in the everyday, wild capers reveal painful emotional truths, and the bizarre is just another name for the familiar. Wickedly funny and thrillingly smart, Fly, Already is a collage of the surrealism of life, written by veteran commentator on the circus farce that is the heart."--Provided by publisher.
Collects early short stories by the Israeli author, on various topics including war, relationships, and aging.
Long-haired Cat-boy Cub
- 48 pages
- 2 hours of reading
The first children's book to appear in English by the award-winning Israeli master storyteller What happens when a tired boy with a fertile imagination is left to fend for himself at the zoo? Well, if his father is too busy to play and must talk business on his phone, and it's close to naptime, then ... a lot. After freeing sad animals from their cages, the boy takes a ride in an airship with an old turtle and a lazy rhinoceros. Once on board he describes to Habakkuk, the ship's captain, the traits of the rarely seen long-haired cat-boy cub: Long-haired cat-boy cubs need to be played with once an hour to stay alive. Also, you cannot wash a long-haired cat-boy cub in water, they only like to drink juice and chocolate milk, and, most of all, you must listen to a long-haired cat-boy cub's story to the end even if you get a call from work. Long-Haired Cat-Boy Cub is a clever and captivating tale that will appeal to any cub who has busy parents and a busier imagination.
A bestseller in Israel, this volume of short stories--from a case of impotence cured by a pet terrier to a pessimistic Middle Eastern talking fish--is an extraordinary collection from the preeminent Israeli writer of his generation.
Combines absurd, humorous, and poignant themes that reveal the fierce humanity of characters in surreal situations.
'Etgar Keret's short stories are fierce, funny, full of energy and insight, and at the same time they are often deep, tragic and very moving' - Amos OzAt a children's tea party, a magician tries to pull a rabbit out of a hat, but takes out only its head;In Etgar Keret's blackly comic stories the unexpected can, and usually does, happen.
Gaza Blues
- 140 pages
- 5 hours of reading
These two new voices from Israel and Palestine have no common political agenda (they don't talk about politics to each other), but share a stated desire to make the conflict more complex for their readers. Complex as human life is complex: maddening, contradictory, filled with conflicting emotions, weaknesses, dreams, failings. For those who have not travelled to this region, your only recourse is literature, which addresses why the conflict is so intractable and why the dehumanisation of the enemy through slogans makes the desired resolution so impossible. The wit, daring, and sheer bloody-minded audacity of these marvellous stories makes it, for me, the book of the year for anyone who prefers to listen to the voices of the people of this region instead of the sound of their own rhetoric.


