Assaf Gavron

I really enjoyed this selection of stories, even though Noir is not normally my genre. I took the advise of another reviewer, and read these stories on at a time (one a day for me) which I think was helpful. In his introduction, explains that Tel Aviv Noir is a bit of a stretch, since Tel Aviv is a lovely, sunny, safe city, however, there is an underbelly. This book is about the underbelly; stories about criminals, drug-users, prostitutes, etc. Stories that make your skin crawl. That said, show more the scariest of the stories was the story by Keret himself, “Allergies,” which is about a seemingly regular, middle class, childless story.

Not all of these stories are winners, but the over-all quality is very high. Some of my other favorites: “”Sleeping Mask” by [[Gadi Taub]]; “Slow Cooking” by [[Deakla Keydar]] and “The Tour Guide” by [[Yoav Katz]] show less

This is easily the best book I've read so far this year. Gavron has written a book that is not only insightful about Israeli society and its nemesis, suicide bombers, but one that is also quite funny, weird as that sounds. Every other chapter is told from Israeli Eitan's view point as he somehow manages to avoid one suicide attack after another. The other part is told by Fahmi, a Palestinian suicide bomber who, after his attack, hovers between life and death at an Israeli hospital where his show more muddled brain makes him reminiscence about his childhood and youth in the West Bank. Different as these two viewpoints seem, they converge throughout the story and, regardless of your personal views, Gavron manages to make both become comprehensible and as close to logical as may be possible. show less

Full review:

http://readingthroughlife.ca/almost-dead-review/

Short version:

I really loved this book, and found it hard to put down. For one, it is rather fast-paced and it tends to pull you into the story because you want to know what happens next. Both characters, but particularly Fahmi – who it turns out is narrating the story as it happened in the past, whereas Croc is almost always narrating as if he is in the present – give little hints about what is still to come, just enough to show more keep you interested in finding out the details, but not giving away so much that you can tell where the story is going to end. There are characters to love and to hate in this book in almost equal measure, and despite its serious subject matter, a definite aura of humour in quite a few places. Gavron has instilled the novel with a sort of social and political commentary, not choosing sides, but allowing you to analyze and form opinions of your own accord. show less

This is another installment in Akashic's long series of short story collections, this one centered around the city of Tel Aviv. Like the other installments, this one contains many stories that aren't strictly "noir" (in truth, in this one, they're not even all mysteries), but there isn't one story in this group that isn't a solidly good read. What you do get in this collection is a view into the darker side of life in "Ha-Buah" (Hebrew for "The Bubble") which, as Keret points out in his show more intro, is a nickname for Tel Aviv because it is so much more like a small European city than it is like an Israeli city - a little bubble of Europe in the Middle East. The collection is so even and balanced that I can't even pick a favorite story - they all have captivating characters, unexpected twists, and something to say that you will want to hear. If you're looking for mysteries, it's perhaps not a collection for you, but if you're after some imaginative stories about life, you won't regret picking up a copy of this book. show less