The focus of the sometimes funny and imaginative, sometimes sad and desperate stories about the normal life of the younger generation are always anti-heroes that do not correspond to the collective identity of Israel or Palestine. Together with the Palestinian Samir El-Youssef, Keret wrote »Gaza Blues« (2004), in which both authors complain about the politicization of their societies and the »tyranny of public opinion and politics«. In this book, the characters are faced with the pitfalls of life. In 2012, Keret’s work »Suddenly, a Knock on the Door« also appeared in German. I don’t want to give my readers answers all I want is for them to start asking questions.« »I want to slap people with my stories so that they wake up and start to ponder. Although the depicted reality is often threatening, the stories appear emphatically casual and testify to a dry and bizarre sense of humor. He combines the everyday with the surreal the fantastic and the absurd. Keret counteracts the problems in his homeland with ruthless directness, irony, and optimism. He has published several short story collections as well as children’s books and graphic novels in which he highlights different aspects of modern Israeli society: racism, love, the military, longing, and fear. Etgar Keret was born in Tel Aviv in 1967 and is considered one of the most renowned Isreali writers of his generation.

Gaza Blues by Etgar Keret