- Newly Added Audiobooks
- Most Popular Audiobooks
- Try Something Different
- Audiobooks for the Whole Family
- See all
The seven years between the birth of Etgar Keret’s son and the death of his father were good years, though still full of reasons to worry. Lev is born in the midst of a terrorist attack. Etgar’s father gets cancer. The threat of constant war looms over their home and permeates daily life.
What emerges from this dark reality is a series of sublimely absurd ruminations on everything from Etgar’s three-year-old son’s impending military service to the terrorist mind-set behind Angry Birds. There’s Lev’s insistence that he is a cat, releasing him from any human responsibilities or rules. Etgar’s siblings, all very different people who have chosen radically divergent paths in life, come together after his father’s shivah to experience the grief and love that tie a family together forever. This wise, witty memoir—Etgar’s first nonfiction book published in America, and told in his inimitable style—is full of wonder and life and love, poignant insights, and irrepressible humor.
-
Creators
-
Publisher
-
Release date
June 16, 2015 -
Formats
-
OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781101914489
- File size: 102636 KB
- Duration: 03:33:49
-
-
Languages
- English
-
Reviews
-
AudioFile Magazine
Israeli writer Etgar Keret is best known for his satirical essays. He brings that same wryness to this series of autobiographical sketches, which span the period from the birth of his son to the death of his father. Alex Karpovsky's engaging narration captures all the bewilderment the author expresses about modern life and the universal truth of many of his observations. Karpovsky changes his tone, volume, and pacing to fit the material so effectively that you'd swear he's performing a stand-up comedy routine rather than reading a book. He gives selected other speakers individual voices, which add to the richness of the narration. R.C.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine -
Publisher's Weekly
Starred review from August 31, 2015
Karpovsky, a prolific young actor and filmmaker best known for his roles in HBO’s Girls, brings tremendous attention to detail and emotional depth to the new nonfiction title from Israeli fiction writer Keret. Keret chronicles the eventful time period between the birth of his son and the death of his father through a series of short vignettes from daily life, which gradually interconnect against a backdrop of political unrest in the Middle East. Karpovsky, the American son of Jewish Russian immigrants, beautifully masters the range of accents in the narrative. He also captures the developing speech patterns of Keret’s little boy, Lev, from vulnerable toddlerhood to the assertiveness and independence of a seven-year-old. Karpovsky scores in his rendering of the author’s aging parents through such memorable interactions as playing Angry Birds with their grandson. The sheer humanity in both the serious and lighthearted moments makes for a captivating listening experience. A Riverhead hardcover. -
Publisher's Weekly
Starred review from April 20, 2015
In this slim, episodic set of recollections, acclaimed Israeli fiction writer Keret (The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God) covers the span between the birth of his son and the death of his father. In spare, wry prose, he recounts his child’s birth, the same day as a terrorist attack, and sums up the violent underpinnings of current Israeli life when he tells a disappointed journalist that “the attacks are always the same. What can you say about an explosion and senseless death?” This apolitical, irreligious, and wry fatalism recalls a great deal of Jewish humor, a meditation on the absurd and vital. The initial courtship of Keret’s parents, both Holocaust survivors, is lovingly described with a thirst for life that reflects the vitality of Israel’s earliest decades. Keret thinks and feels deeply, but he makes heavy points with a light touch, describing a childhood friend as having “the smiling but tough expression of an aging child who had already learned a thing or two about this stupid world.” While the short chapters move in linear fashion, each stands firmly on its own.. Without overplaying any single aspect of a complicated life in complicated times in a complicated place, Keret’s lovely memoir retains its essential human warmth, demonstrating that with memoirs, less can often be more.
-
Formats
- OverDrive Listen audiobook
Languages
- English
Loading
Why is availability limited?
×Availability can change throughout the month based on the library's budget. You can still place a hold on the title, and your hold will be automatically filled as soon as the title is available again.
The Kindle Book format for this title is not supported on:
×Read-along ebook
×The OverDrive Read format of this ebook has professional narration that plays while you read in your browser. Learn more here.