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“I’ve been looking at [Keret’s] Substack and it’s so witty and enjoyable, and he’s clearly having a wonderful time doing it, I thought, ‘maybe I could do that’” — Salman Rushdie, The Guardian
Taking the Long View
"Intention"
Deep in his heart, Yechiel-Nachman had made peace with his prayers going unanswered. Because prayer was the pure yearning for compassion and justice, whereas life was life: cruel, dispiriting, insulting. It was therefore only natural that two such contrasting worlds could never converge. But on October 7, 2023 – the 22nd day of Tishrei in the year 5784 – something in Yechiel-Nachman broke.
Photograph: Bumble Dee/Alamy
“What About Me?“
Written by Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen for “Short Stories on Human Rights“ (2008).
Random quote
At the escalator, he wants to go up the down side, for the fun of it, and I go along with him. It's a good workout for both of us. You have to run as fast as you can so you won't be dragged down, have to strain the whole time not to fall on your ass. Just like in life.
Words Without Borders, 2010
I believe that there is a truth. I believe it is very difficult to articulate that truth. I try to go in that direction, but I don’t pretend I will get there.
New York Times, 2012
For Keret, the creative impulse resides not in a conscious devotion to the classic armature of fiction (character, plot, theme, etc.) but in an allegiance to the anarchic instigations of the subconscious. His best stories display a kind of irrepressible dream logic