Synopses & Reviews
Read by an all-star cast and featuring a bonus story special to the audio edition,
Suddenly, a Knock on the Door is a one-of-a-kind audiobook program.
Bringing up a child, lying to the boss, placing an order in a fast-food restaurant: in Etgar Kerets new collection, daily life is complicated, dangerous, and full of yearning. In his most playful and most mature work yet, the living and the dead, silent children and talking animals, dreams and waking life coexist in an uneasy world. Overflowing with absurdity, humor, sadness, and compassion, the tales in Suddenly, a Knock on the Door establish Etgar Keret—declared a “genius” by The New York Times—as one of the most original writers of his generation.
Audio Track listing:
Suddenly, a Knock on the Door: Read by Ira Glass
Lieland: Read by Adam Thirlwell
Cheesus Christ: Read by Dave Eggers
Simyon: Read by Nicole Krauss
Shut: Read by George Saunders
Healthy Start: Read by Ben Foster
Teamwork: Read by Mathieu Amalric
Pudding: Read by Aimee Bender
Unzipping: Read by Miranda July
The Polite Little Boy: Read by Ben Marcus
Mystique: Read by Willem Dafoe
Creative Writing: Read by Stanley Tucci
Snot: Read by John Sayles
Grab the Cuckoo by the Tail: Read by Gary Shteyngart
Pick a Color: Read by Robert Wisdom
Black and Blue: Read by Stella Schnabel
What Do We Have in Our Pockets?: Read by Michael Chabon
Bad Karma: Read by Lorin Stein
Ari: Read by Rick Moody
Bitch: Read by Nathan Englander
The Story, Victorious: Read by Scott Shepherd
A Good One: Read by David Rakoff
What, of This Goldfish, Would You Wish?: Read by Gary Shteyngart
Not Completely Alone: Read by Michael Chernus
One Step Beyond: Read by Shea Wigham
Big Blue Bus: Read by Josh Charles
Hemorrhoid: Read by Michael Buscemi
September All Year Long: Read by Neal Stephenson
Joseph: Read by Mark Duplass
Mourners Meal: Read by Shalom Auslander
Parallel Universes: Read by Todd Hasak-Lowy
Upgrade: Read by Josh Radnor
Guava: Read by Ira Glass
Surprise Party: Read by Scott Shepherd
What Animal Are You?: Read by Jonathan Safran Foer
Asthma Attack: Read by Etgar Keret
Review
“A brilliant writer . . . completely unlike any writer I know. The voice of the next generation.” —Salman Rushdie
“Keret can do more with six . . .paragraphs than most writers can with 600 pages.” —Kyle Smith, People
Review
“Kerets greatest book yet—the most funny, dark, and poignant. Its tempting to say these stories are his most Kafkaesque, but in fact they are his most Keretesque.” —Jonathan Safran Foer
“Etgar Kerets stories are funny, with tons of feeling, driving towards destinations you never see coming. Theyre written in the most unpretentious, chatty voice possible, but theyre also weirdly poetic. They stick in your gut. You think about them for days. “ —Ira Glass, host and producer of This American Life
“A brilliant writer . . . completely unlike any writer I know. The voice of the next generation.” —Salman Rushdie
“Keret can do more with six . . .paragraphs than most writers can with 600 pages.” —Kyle Smith, People
Review
“I feel that the best thing that can happen to a writer is for someone to interpret your text. It is a great experience, listening to your words.” - Etgar Keret
“An all-star roster of narrators masterfully performs the audio edition of Kerets latest collection, which mixes humor, emotion, absurdity, morality, and humility…the result is a truly inspired series of performances and an utterly entertaining audiobook. Listening quickly becomes a compulsion.” - Publishers Weekly
“Examples of the talented narrators include Josh Charles, who has a deep, round tone and a gentle manner that perfectly complements the authors words, and Adam Thirlwells British accent, which supports a strong, robust reading about lying. Its an excellent audio and literary experience.” - AudioFile Magazine
“Kerets greatest book yet—the most funny, dark, and poignant. Its tempting to say these stories are his most Kafkaesque, but in fact they are his most Keretesque.” —Jonathan Safran Foer
“Etgar Kerets stories are funny, with tons of feeling, driving towards destinations you never see coming. Theyre written in the most unpretentious, chatty voice possible, but theyre also weirdly poetic. They stick in your gut. You think about them for days. “ —Ira Glass, host and producer of This American Life
“Strangeness abounds. Keret fits so much psychological and social complexity and metaphysical mystery into these quick, wry, jolting, funny, off-handedly fabulist miniatures, theyre like literary magic tricks: no matter how closely you read, you cant figure out how he does it.” —Donna Seaman, Booklist (March 15)
“His pieces elicit comparison to sources as diverse as Franz Kafka, Kurt Vonnegut and Woody Allen . . . [Keret is] a writer who is often very funny and inventive, and occasionally profound.” —Kirkus Reviews (March 15)
“Israeli author Keret writes sometimes appealingly wacky, sometimes darkly absurdist stories that translate well to America . . . Sophisticated readers should check this out.” —Library Journal, pre-pub alert
“In this slim volume of flash fiction and short stories, Israeli author/filmmaker Keret (The Nimrod Flipout; the film Jellyfish) writes with alternating Singeresque magical realism and Kafkaesque absurdity.” —Publishers Weekly
“This collection of short stories brims with invention . . . Etgar Keret is a great short story writer whose work is all the greater because its funny . . . [He] most becomes himself in comedy shorts, telling tales of the absurd and the surreal . . . As one of the 20th centurys great comic writers—and one of Kerets true precursors—might have said, so it goes . . . To complain about Keret being Keret is like complaining about Chekhov being Chekhov.” —Ian Sansom, The Guardian
“[Keret] deserves full marks for chutzpah . . . His work zings with imaginative conceits, clever asides and self-conscious twists. Yet there is also an easygoing quality to his writing that makes the 37 stories collected here instantly likeable . . . his stories assume an anecdotal style that gives them an air of spontaneity, as if he were relating them over a cup of coffee in one of the Tel Aviv cafes frequented by his characters . . . Kerets willingness to develop quirky concepts (one story features a magic, talking goldfish) would seem to grant him a place alongside such idiosyncratic writers as Robert Walser, Franz Kafka, Kurt Vonnegut and Italo Calvino. But if his work is sometimes reminiscent of these writers, it also carves out its own territory.” —James Ley, The Sydney Morning Herald
“A brilliant writer . . . completely unlike any writer I know. The voice of the next generation.” —Salman Rushdie
“Keret can do more with six . . .paragraphs than most writers can with 600 pages.” —Kyle Smith, People
Review
“I feel that the best thing that can happen to a writer is for someone to interpret your text. It is a great experience, listening to your words.” - Etgar Keret
“An all-star roster of narrators masterfully performs the audio edition of Kerets latest collection, which mixes humor, emotion, absurdity, morality, and humility…the result is a truly inspired series of performances and an utterly entertaining audiobook. Listening quickly becomes a compulsion.” - Publishers Weekly
“Examples of the talented narrators include Josh Charles, who has a deep, round tone and a gentle manner that perfectly complements the authors words, and Adam Thirlwells British accent, which supports a strong, robust reading about lying. Its an excellent audio and literary experience.” - AudioFile Magazine
“Kerets greatest book yet—the most funny, dark, and poignant. Its tempting to say these stories are his most Kafkaesque, but in fact they are his most Keretesque.” —Jonathan Safran Foer
“Etgar Kerets stories are funny, with tons of feeling, driving towards destinations you never see coming. Theyre written in the most unpretentious, chatty voice possible, but theyre also weirdly poetic. They stick in your gut. You think about them for days. “ —Ira Glass, host and producer of This American Life
“Strangeness abounds. Keret fits so much psychological and social complexity and metaphysical mystery into these quick, wry, jolting, funny, off-handedly fabulist miniatures, theyre like literary magic tricks: no matter how closely you read, you cant figure out how he does it.” —Donna Seaman, Booklist (March 15)
“His pieces elicit comparison to sources as diverse as Franz Kafka, Kurt Vonnegut and Woody Allen . . . [Keret is] a writer who is often very funny and inventive, and occasionally profound.” —Kirkus Reviews (March 15)
“Israeli author Keret writes sometimes appealingly wacky, sometimes darkly absurdist stories that translate well to America . . . Sophisticated readers should check this out.” —Library Journal, pre-pub alert
“In this slim volume of flash fiction and short stories, Israeli author/filmmaker Keret (The Nimrod Flipout; the film Jellyfish) writes with alternating Singeresque magical realism and Kafkaesque absurdity.” —Publishers Weekly
“This collection of short stories brims with invention . . . Etgar Keret is a great short story writer whose work is all the greater because its funny . . . [He] most becomes himself in comedy shorts, telling tales of the absurd and the surreal . . . As one of the 20th centurys great comic writers—and one of Kerets true precursors—might have said, so it goes . . . To complain about Keret being Keret is like complaining about Chekhov being Chekhov.” —Ian Sansom, The Guardian
“[Keret] deserves full marks for chutzpah . . . His work zings with imaginative conceits, clever asides and self-conscious twists. Yet there is also an easygoing quality to his writing that makes the 37 stories collected here instantly likeable . . . his stories assume an anecdotal style that gives them an air of spontaneity, as if he were relating them over a cup of coffee in one of the Tel Aviv cafes frequented by his characters . . . Kerets willingness to develop quirky concepts (one story features a magic, talking goldfish) would seem to grant him a place alongside such idiosyncratic writers as Robert Walser, Franz Kafka, Kurt Vonnegut and Italo Calvino. But if his work is sometimes reminiscent of these writers, it also carves out its own territory.” —James Ley, The Sydney Morning Herald
“A brilliant writer . . . completely unlike any writer I know. The voice of the next generation.” —Salman Rushdie
“Keret can do more with six . . .paragraphs than most writers can with 600 pages.” —Kyle Smith, People
Synopsis
Part Kafka, part Vonnegut, with the concerns and comedic delivery of Woody Allen, Etgar Keret is a brilliant and original master of the short story. Hilarious, witty, and always unusual, declared “a genius” by The New York Times, Keret brings all of his prodigious talent to bear in Suddenly, A Knock on the Door, his sixth bestselling collection.
Long a household name in Israel, where he has been declared the voice of his generation, Keret has been acknowledged as one of the countrys most radical and extraordinary writers. Exuding a rare combination of depth and accessibility, Kerets tales overflow with absurdity, humor, sadness, and compassion, and though their circumstances are often strange and surreal, his characters are defined by a familiar and fierce humanity. Suddenly, Knock on the Door is at once Kerets most mature and most playful work yet, and establishes him as one of the great global writers of the twenty-first century.
Synopsis
Bringing up a child, lying to the boss, placing an order in a fast-food restaurant: in Etgar Kerets new collection, daily life is complicated, dangerous, and full of yearning. In his most playful and most mature work yet, the living and the dead, silent children and talking animals, dreams and waking life coexist in an uneasy world. Overflowing with absurdity, humor, sadness, and compassion, the tales in Suddenly, a Knock on the Door establish Etgar Keret—declared a “genius” by The New York Times—as one of the most original writers of his generation.
About the Author
Born in Tel Aviv in 1967, Etgar Keret is the author of six bestselling story collections. His writing has been published in Harpers Magazine, The New York Times, The Paris Review, and Zoetrope. Jellyfish, his first movie as a director along with his wife, Shira Geffen, won the Camera dOr prize for best first feature at Cannes in 2007. In 2010 he was named a Chevalier of Frances Order of Arts and Letters.
Reading Group Guide
1. How were you affected by the way the title story and the closing story, “What Animal Are You?,” describe writers versus audiences? Does the story in “The Story, Victorious” fulfill the high expectations that were set for it?
2. If you were to pull the arm of the gumball machine in “Lieland,” what would you encounter? Who were the most interesting characters in your past lies?
3. Suddenly, a Knock on the Door features many scenes of unresolved love, from Miron in “Healthy Start,” who is willing to get punched for someone elses infidelity so that he can experience human interaction, to the narrator of “Not Completely Alone,” whose beloved is involved with a married man. Which of the books love stories resonated the most with you?
4. Most of the books characters face a startling fate: “Cheesus Christ” features a butterfly effect involving clinical depression, miscommunication, and sheer bad luck; Simyon dies in a terrorist attack, leaving behind a widow who barely knew him but will enjoy the pension; Oshri in “Bad Karma” survives when jumper Nattie lands on his head, but Oshri is wistful for his comatose days. What do the books death tales tell us about survival?
5. What common traits are shared by all the characters, regardless of whether they are Arab, Israeli, or American? Does gender affect the personalities of the characters, or are the books men and women equally neurotic/rational, pushy/passive?
6. How did you react to the final scenes in “Pick a Color” and “One Step Beyond?” What interpretation of God is offered in each of these stories?
7. Reincarnation abounds in this collection, from Bertha in “Bitch,” who becomes a traveling poodle, to Shkedi in “Guava,” who arranges for peace on earth but becomes a terrified guava. If you were to be reincarnated as a nonhuman, what would your best and worst options look like?
8. In stories of punishment, such as “A Good One” (in which entrepreneur Gershon gets clobbered by a security guard while trying to market his board game, Stop—Police), is there any justice? Or is there only irony?
9. How did the collections depictions of children (ranging from “The Polite Little Boy” to the demanding Hillel in “Big Blue Bus”) compare to your memories of childhood? What does Roikis story in “Teamwork” say about the way parents explain the world to their children, and the aspects of childhood we never leave behind?
10. Discuss the power and achievements of the hemorrhoid in the story by the same name. Is the hemorrhoid an allegorical character that can teach us important life lessons? Or is it just incredibly funny?
11. Several of the stories address financial issues directly, especially “September All Year Long” and “Grab the Cuckoo by the Tail.” What does Suddenly, a Knock on the Door say about the relationship between wealth and doom?
12. What, of the goldfish, would you wish?
13. In stories such as “Unzipping” and “Pudding,” the characters assume new identities in an instant. How does Keret make his surrealism seem realistic?
14. What universal fears and longings are expressed in the intertwining lives of “Surprise Party”?
15. Suddenly, a Knock on the Door features more than a hundred characters and dozens of sometimes interlocking story lines. What does this indicate about the versatility of short fiction? What can short stories achieve that a novel cant?