I particularly like the short story. Comparisons between the short story and chopped up novels are unfair, because most aren't crap (and quite frankly if you're pushing through a crappy book just to label it as such, you have much too much time on your hands).

Etgar Keret has published many compilations and graphic novels, but surprisingly this is the first of his work that I've ever gotten my hands on. To be really honest, I read the first short and once I got to the end I was completely confused. I read it again and managed to wrap my head around it. By the third rereading, I was laughing. Usually I wouldn't waste my time, by there's something about the way that Keret writes, that I just didn't want to put this down and give up.

Originally recommended by one of the managers at the bookstore I work at on the pretext of my own compilation that I'm working on, I'm quite glad that I decided to give it a try. Somewhere around 35 stories within a little under 190 pages, the Israeli writer manages to pack a good punch into this little paperback based on how the "daily life is complicated, dangerous, and full of yearning." And just like with life, you're not exactly sure what you're going to get with the next one. There's no obvious theme, the character's are not always the same, and the experience changes even within the stories entirely. The one thing that remains? Everyone is human. Pathological liars, passive-agressive fathers, and chatterboxes have all neatly aligned themselves to create this, without complaints. Personal favourites include "Lieland", "Healthy Start", "Teamwork", "Unzipping", "Snot", "What Do We Have in Our Pockets?", "What Animal Are You?", and especially "Hemorrhoid".

★★★★★

Labels: etgar keret, fiction, short stories