Becky

Yes, I would and have recommended everything Etgar Keret has written to friends. Keret writes beguiling, funny, often frustratingly short, stories. Regular "This American Life" fans will have heard him weave a tale or two and will probably have been left wanting more every time. Although most of his short stories could technically be classified as absurdism or fantasy, Keret uses absurd situations to explore the parts of the human condition that are not that frequently explored. They remind you how exciting it is to think about such things, and make you wonder why you don't more often. Of course, some of them more than others, as is always the case with short story collections. And some of them really are too short! But they'll leave you eager for another collection.

I like that Keret never hits you over the head with the morals to his peculiar fables. He invites and encourages the reader to think, and interpret, and work a little! And his special seriocomic take on the world recognizes the humor that really does run through even the darker, lonelier crevices of the human condition.

I think that Keret knows that the human voice really breathes the greatest life into his stories. Of course I could just be under this impression because I heard a number of his stories on "T.A.L." before I read them. I must say that, although these actors do a fine job (Stanley Tucci is just always a treat in whatever he does), Keret's own delivery of his stories on Ira Glass' show is quite a bit more enjoyable. But the musical interludes between the tales are pleasant; and these actors' changing voices delivering these odd tableaux, and their changing tones, are much more fun than just my own. But if Mr. Keret would please not be embarrassed about his wonderful, nicely sleepy Israeli accent, and record his next Audible collection himself, I will not miss the famous narrators. Also, this is a perfect selection for an evening walk in crisp air.