Suddenly, a Knock on the Door

Brilliant collection of short stories: funny, witty and full of surprises. The wild ride starts with the title story when a man is held hostage by three men who appear separately, each armed and each demanding a story and the collection gets better and wackier as it goes. My favourite story was Lieland where the main character gets to meet all his lies,that live as real beings in some sort of parrallel universe and than there is the one about a man who is about to die on the plane. He is offered a chance of last wish and he asks for "peace on earth" but when he dies he is reincarnated as a guava and the only thing that he cares for now is not to crash to the ground. There are probably about 20 of these stories in this collection most of them 2 to 4 pages long. What a talent to create something so complete in such a short space and what an imaginative way to make us reflect on the craziness of our own lives Loved it!

#7 Favourite Read of 2012My only previous experience with Keret was the brilliant and beautiful movie Wristcutters: A Love Story based on his novella [b:Kneller's Happy Campers|6324467|Kneller's Happy Campers|Etgar Keret|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320489998s/6324467.jpg|1594864] so when this brand new collection of short stories was offered to me by a local bookseller I had no hesitation in buying it.And I am so glad I did, as it was a revelation, completely unlike anything else I've read. His stories are often strange and slightly fantastical, funny, dark, impressive and affecting. This is a serious work that apparently exhibits all of Keret's usual trademarks in it's study of the human condition.It was once written about [a:Haruki Murakami|3354|Haruki Murakami|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1350230608p2/3354.jpg] that he captures the common ache of the contemporary heart and head and I think the same can be said about this collection from Etgar Keret. He presents a series of poignant moments of isolation, loss, fear and confusion that I couldn't help but identify with and marvel at the skill displayed in creating them.In a series of amazing experiences the highlight of the collection for me has to be the story Teamwork. It somehow felt more true than reality and at the same time completely heartbreakingly sad.I have no hesitation in forcing this book in to the hands of everyone I know and hunting out more of his work translated in to English.