Jerusalem Beach: Stories

by Iddo Gefen, Daniella Zamir (Translator)

Overview

Featuring the story being adapted by Charlie Kaufman for LATER THE WAR, starring Eddie Redmayne, Tessa Thompson, and Patsy Ferran!

*WINNER OF THE 2023 SAMI ROHR PRIZE FOR JEWISH LITERATURE, FICTION*

For fans of Etgar Keret, a debut collection that fuses the humor of everyday life in Israel with technology's challenges and the latest discoveries about the human brain.

At once compassionate, philosophical, and humorous, Jerusalem Beach is a foray into the human condition in all its contradictions. Through a series of snapshots of contemporary life in Israel, Gefen reveals a world that’s a step from the familiar.

A man’s grandfather joins an army platoon of geriatrics looking for purpose in old age. A scheming tech start-up exposes the dire consequences of ambition in trying to share human memories. An elderly couple searches for a beach that doesn’t exist. And, a boy mourns his brother’s death in an attempt to catch time like flies in his fist.

Entirely heartfelt and infused with pathos, Jerusalem Beach is an exploration of both technology and the brain. Whether ruminating on the stakes of familial love or pitching the reader headlong into the absurdity of success and failure, Gefen leaves the reader intrigued throughout.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781662600432
Publisher:	Astra Publishing House
Publication date:	08/17/2021
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.80(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Iddo Gefen was born in 1992 in Israel and currently resides in Tel Aviv. He works in neurocognitive research at the The Immersive Media & Cognition Group in Sagol Brain Institute, Sourasky Medical Center and Tel Aviv University, exploring how storytelling can improve our understanding of the human mind. Iddo leads an innovative study to diagnose aspects of Parkinson's disease using storytelling and augmented reality. Jerusalem Beach is his debut collection, and recipient of the Israeli Minister of Culture Award (2017); Iddo won the National Library of Israel “Pardes” Scholarship for young writers (2019). His debut novel, Mrs. Lilienblum's Cloud Factory, will be published by Astra House in 2022.

Editorial Reviews

"This vigorous, inventive work will surely fire up readers' neurons."
— Starred Review, Publisher's Weekly

“[Gefen's] philosophical concerns and ability to combine humor with grim resignation to the conditions of everyday life in Israel recall Etgar Keret.”
— Kirkus Reviews

"Gefen makes imagined destinations as tangible as Tel Aviv, the Negev desert or Hadera. His characters and backdrops demonstrate the breadth of a people and a country and will make readers eager to see what he does next."
— Shelf Awareness

"The stories in Iddo Gefen's Jerusalem Beach are a series of original and, many times truly inspiring, attempts to seek and find humanity and tenderness at the least predictable places."
— Etgar Keret, author of Fly Already

“Jerusalem Beach accomplishes the impossible—at once playful and wrenching, surprising and organic, these stories are instant classics, if classics could somehow come from the future. Gefen’s is a once-in-a-generation voice.”
— Shelly Oria, author of New York 1, Tel Aviv 0

“Ironic, stirring, funny and exhilarating, Jerusalem Beach is a brilliant debut, and Gefen may be the best Israeli short story writer since Etgar Keret.”
— Ayelet Gundar-Goshen, author of Waking Lions

"Sad and funny and full of wisdom and truth."
— Amos Oz, author of A Tale of Love and Darkness

“Jerusalem Beach signals the confidence and the probing talent of a mature writer, confident in his craft, who knows how to control a complicated storyline with an unexpected, enjoyable twist, while creating distinct characters that speak in many unique voices.” 
— Arianne Melamed, Haaretz

“Iddo Gefen is the voice of his generation. But he’s also a voice that’s somewhat wiser than his generation; one that observes from the sidelines, or rather, from the perspective of an eighty-year-old grandfather...[Jerusalem Beach] is a fresh, imaginative and bold debut.” 
— Eshkol Nevo, author of Three Floors Up

“A few of the pre­cise and often star­tling sto­ries in Iddo Gefen’s excel­lent debut col­lec­tion may remind some read­ers of Etgar Keret’s whim­si­cal approach to life’s absur­di­ties, but Gefen’s voice is assured­ly unique among younger Israeli writ­ers whose short sto­ries often seem to con­tain the deep emo­tion­al com­plex­i­ties of entire nov­els. [...] Gefen proves adept at tak­ing read­ers into very dark places while offer­ing qui­et notes of com­pas­sion and consolation.”
— Ranen Omer-Sherman, Jewish Book Council

From the Publisher

2021-07-28
Thirteen stories of contemporary Israeli life weave in and out of reality.

From a story called "Flies and Porcupines": "Since the day you enlisted, Yonatan, I've been trying to catch time. Literally catch it....At first I didn't catch anything, because catching time is truly tricky." From "The Girl Who Lived Near the Sun": "It's been a year and a half now that you've been traveling all over the solar system, without popping by to visit your old grandma even once." From "Debby's Dream House": "I found the job through a newspaper ad. I didn't even know there were people who built dreams." Originally published in Israel to awards and acclaim, many of the stories in Gefen's debut collection combine a down-to-earth, wry narrative tone with surreal or SF–esque premises. While one narrator actually does get a job building dreams, and also nightmares, another fixes a radio that can tune into people’s inner thoughts, while a third gets a job as a representative for a company called the Meaning of Life, Ltd. At a facility called Lucid Memo, people literally share their memories with others—and the pre-wedding couples who come in get a complimentary pampering spa treatment after the procedure. Some stories have more realistic premises, or somewhat more realistic, anyway: In the very long—too long—first story, "The Geriatric Platoon," the narrator is a man whose grandfather joins the military to alleviate his boredom. A military base is also the setting for "Neptune," so called because that's how far away from everything it feels—there, a mock trial is held for the crime of stealing a grilled cheese sandwich. Gefen's background as a neurocognitive researcher filters through the collection in stories that meditate on dreams, cognition, mental illness, and the inner lives of his characters. His philosophical concerns and ability to combine humor with grim resignation to the conditions of everyday life in Israel recall Etgar Keret.

With stories already optioned by Ryan Gosling and Warner Bros., the author seems poised for a successful American debut.

Kirkus Reviews