The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God: And Other Stories - Hardcover

Etgar Keret

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312261888 ISBN 13: 9780312261887

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books, 2001

Synopsis

Israel's most talked-about young writer offers a collection of warped, candid, and beautiful stories written from the heart of his troubled country.

About this title

Review

Praise for "The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God"
"One couldn't have hoped for a finer way to herald this major new voice in world literature." - "San Francisco Chronicle"
"Wonderfully surreal, laugh-out-loud-funny stories... all of them witty gems from a singular storyteller." - "Elle"
"Extraordinary" - "The Boston Globe"

Praise for Etgar Keret
"Etgar Keret is a genius..." -- "New York Times"
"A brilliant writer...completely unlike any writer I know. The voice of the next generation." -- Salman Rushdie
"One of my favorite Israeli writers." - John Green
"Etgar's stories are a reminder of that rude intangible that often goes unspoken in creative writing workshops: a great work of art is often just residual evidence of a great human soul. There is sweetheartedness and wisdom and eloquence and transcendence in his stories because these virtues exist in abundance in Etgar himself... I am very happy that Etgar and his work are in the world, making things better." - George Saunders
"When I first read Etgar's stories, I wondered what was wrong with him -- had his mother smoked crack while pregnant? was he dropped on his head as an infant? -- until I met him, and grew to know him, and realized his problem was much worse than I had ever imagined: he is a terribly caring human being in a terribly uncaring universe. Basically, he's fucked." - Shalom Auslander
"Etgar Keret is #1 writer in Israel and #2 in my heart (after my dachshund Felix)." - Gary Shteyngart
"Etgar Keret's stories are funny, with tons of feeling, driving towards destinations you never see coming. They're written in the most unpretentious, chatty voice possible, but they're also weirdly poetic. They stick in your gut. You think about them for days." - Ira Glass, host and producer of "This American Life"
"Exhilarating... 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." - Steve Almond, "New York Times"
"Etgar Keret possesses an imagination not easily slotted into conventional literary categories. His very short stories might be described as Kafkaesque parables, magic-realist knock-knock jokes or sad kernels of cracked cosmic wisdom." - A.O. Scott, " The New York Times"
"[Keret's writing] testifies to the power of the surreal, the concise and the fantastic... [O]blique, breezy, seriocomic fantasies that defy encapsulation, categorization and even summary." - "Washington Post"
"It's astonishing what he can do in just two pages: go from funny to bizarre to touching to satiric to meta to surprising and surreal... [A] master storyteller, creating deep, tragic, funny, painful tales with scarcely more words than you've read in this review." - Carolyn Kellogg, "Los Angeles Times"

Praise for"The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God"
One couldn t have hoped for a finer way to herald this major new voice in world literature. "San Francisco Chronicle"
Wonderfully surreal, laugh-out-loud-funny stories all of them witty gems from a singular storyteller. "Elle"
Extraordinary "The Boston Globe"

Praise for Etgar Keret
Etgar Keret is a genius... "New York Times"
"A brilliant writer...completely unlike any writer I know. The voice of the next generation." Salman Rushdie
One of my favorite Israeli writers. John Green
Etgar s stories are a reminder of that rude intangible that often goes unspoken in creative writing workshops: a great work of art is often just residual evidence of a great human soul. There is sweetheartedness and wisdom and eloquence and transcendence in his stories because these virtues exist in abundance in Etgar himself I am very happy that Etgar and his work are in the world, making things better. George Saunders
When I first read Etgar's stories, I wondered what was wrong with him -- had his mother smoked crack while pregnant? was he dropped on his head as an infant? -- until I met him, and grew to know him, and realized his problem was much worse than I had ever imagined: he is a terribly caring human being in a terribly uncaring universe. Basically, he's fucked. Shalom Auslander
"Etgar Keret is #1 writer in Israel and #2 in my heart (after my dachshund Felix). Gary Shteyngart
Etgar Keret s stories are funny, with tons of feeling, driving towards destinations you never see coming. They re written in the most unpretentious, chatty voice possible, but they re also weirdly poetic. They stick in your gut. You think about them for days. Ira Glass, host and producer of "This American Life"
Exhilarating 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. Steve Almond, "New York Times"
Etgar Keret possesses an imagination not easily slotted into conventional literary categories. His very short stories might be described as Kafkaesque parables, magic-realist knock-knock jokes or sad kernels of cracked cosmic wisdom. A.O. Scott, "The New York Times"
[Keret s writing] testifies to the power of the surreal, the concise and the fantastic [O]blique, breezy, seriocomic fantasies that defy encapsulation, categorization and even summary. "Washington Post"
It's astonishing what he can do in just two pages: go from funny to bizarre to touching to satiric to meta to surprising and surreal [A] master storyteller, creating deep, tragic, funny, painful tales with scarcely more words than you've read in this review. Carolyn Kellogg, "Los Angeles Times""

Praise forThe Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God
One couldn t have hoped for a finer way to herald this major new voice in world literature. San Francisco Chronicle
Wonderfully surreal, laugh-out-loud-funny stories all of them witty gems from a singular storyteller. Elle
Extraordinary The Boston Globe

Praise for Etgar Keret
Etgar Keret is a genius... New York Times
"A brilliant writer...completely unlike any writer I know. The voice of the next generation." Salman Rushdie
One of my favorite Israeli writers. John Green
Etgar s stories are a reminder of that rude intangible that often goes unspoken in creative writing workshops: a great work of art is often just residual evidence of a great human soul. There is sweetheartedness and wisdom and eloquence and transcendence in his stories because these virtues exist in abundance in Etgar himself I am very happy that Etgar and his work are in the world, making things better. George Saunders
When I first read Etgar's stories, I wondered what was wrong with him -- had his mother smoked crack while pregnant? was he dropped on his head as an infant? -- until I met him, and grew to know him, and realized his problem was much worse than I had ever imagined: he is a terribly caring human being in a terribly uncaring universe. Basically, he's fucked. Shalom Auslander
"Etgar Keret is #1 writer in Israel and #2 in my heart (after my dachshund Felix). Gary Shteyngart
Etgar Keret s stories are funny, with tons of feeling, driving towards destinations you never see coming. They re written in the most unpretentious, chatty voice possible, but they re also weirdly poetic. They stick in your gut. You think about them for days. Ira Glass, host and producer of "This American Life"
Exhilarating 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. Steve Almond, New York Times
Etgar Keret possesses an imagination not easily slotted into conventional literary categories. His very short stories might be described as Kafkaesque parables, magic-realist knock-knock jokes or sad kernels of cracked cosmic wisdom. A.O. Scott, The New York Times
[Keret s writing] testifies to the power of the surreal, the concise and the fantastic [O]blique, breezy, seriocomic fantasies that defy encapsulation, categorization and even summary. Washington Post
It's astonishing what he can do in just two pages: go from funny to bizarre to touching to satiric to meta to surprising and surreal [A] master storyteller, creating deep, tragic, funny, painful tales with scarcely more words than you've read in this review. Carolyn Kellogg, Los Angeles Times"

Praise for The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God

"One couldn't have hoped for a finer way to herald this major new voice in world literature." - San Francisco Chronicle

"Wonderfully surreal, laugh-out-loud-funny stories... all of them witty gems from a singular storyteller." - Elle

"Extraordinary" - The Boston Globe

Praise for Etgar Keret

"Etgar Keret is a genius..." -- New York Times

"A brilliant writer...completely unlike any writer I know. The voice of the next generation." -- Salman Rushdie

"One of my favorite Israeli writers." - John Green

"Etgar's stories are a reminder of that rude intangible that often goes unspoken in creative writing workshops: a great work of art is often just residual evidence of a great human soul. There is sweetheartedness and wisdom and eloquence and transcendence in his stories because these virtues exist in abundance in Etgar himself... I am very happy that Etgar and his work are in the world, making things better." - George Saunders

"When I first read Etgar's stories, I wondered what was wrong with him -- had his mother smoked crack while pregnant? was he dropped on his head as an infant? -- until I met him, and grew to know him, and realized his problem was much worse than I had ever imagined: he is a terribly caring human being in a terribly uncaring universe. Basically, he's fucked." - Shalom Auslander

"Etgar Keret is #1 writer in Israel and #2 in my heart (after my dachshund Felix)." - Gary Shteyngart

"Etgar Keret's stories are funny, with tons of feeling, driving towards destinations you never see coming. They're written in the most unpretentious, chatty voice possible, but they're also weirdly poetic. They stick in your gut. You think about them for days." - Ira Glass, host and producer of "This American Life"

"Exhilarating... 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." - Steve Almond, New York Times

"Etgar Keret possesses an imagination not easily slotted into conventional literary categories. His very short stories might be described as Kafkaesque parables, magic-realist knock-knock jokes or sad kernels of cracked cosmic wisdom." - A.O. Scott, The New York Times

"[Keret's writing] testifies to the power of the surreal, the concise and the fantastic... [O]blique, breezy, seriocomic fantasies that defy encapsulation, categorization and even summary." - Washington Post

"It's astonishing what he can do in just two pages: go from funny to bizarre to touching to satiric to meta to surprising and surreal... [A] master storyteller, creating deep, tragic, funny, painful tales with scarcely more words than you've read in this review." - Carolyn Kellogg, Los Angeles Times

About the Author

Born in Tel Aviv in 1967, Etgar Keret is one of the leading voices in Israeli literature and cinema. In the last ten years he has published three books of short stories and novellas, two comics books, two feature screenplays, and numerous teleplays. Bestsellers in Israel, his story collections have been published in eight different languages. His movie, "Malka Red-Heart," won the Israeli "Oscar," as well as acclaim at several international film festivals. Keret lectures at Tel Aviv University's School of Film.

About this edition

• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0312261888
• ISBN 13: 9780312261887
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 182