A Horse Walks Into a Bar (Vintage International) - Softcover

Grossman, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1101973498 ISBN 13: 9781101973493

Publisher: Vintage, 2018

WINNER OF THE 2017 MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE

In a dive bar in a small Israeli city, Dov Greenstein, a comedian a bit past his prime, takes the stage for his final show. Over the course of a single evening, Dov's patter becomes a kind of memoir, taking us back into the terrors of his childhood. And in the dance between comic and audience, a deeper story begins to take shape as Dov confronts the decision that has shaped the course of his life--a story that will alter the lives of several of those in attendance. A poignant exploration of how people confront life's capricious battering, A Horse Walks into a Bar is a searing story of loss and survival.

Review:

"Astounding. . . . [A] magnificently comic and sucker-punch-tragic excursion into brilliance." --Gary Shteyngart, The New York Times Book Review

"Unsettling and mesmerizing. . . . As beautiful as it is unusual, and it's nearly impossible to put down." --NPR

"Bewitching. . . . Brilliant, blistering." --The Washington Post

"[Grossman] has transcended genre; or rather, he has descended deep into the vaults beneath. . . . This isn't just a book about Israel: it's about people and societies horribly malfunctioning." --The Guardian

"As cunning and compelling as the stand-up guy at its center. In this funnyman's sad, grotesque performance, Grossman reaffirms his power to entertain and unnerve." --The Boston Globe

"Arresting. . . . Grossman seems to be channeling Philip Roth, circa Portnoy's Complaint, with a colloquial voice that badgers, bullies, berates and beseeches." --San Francisco Chronicle

"A short, shocking masterpiece . . . in which absurdity and humour are used to probe the darkest corners of the human condition." --The Sunday Times (London)

"[A] pitch-black comedy. . . . It takes an author of Mr Grossman's stature to channel not a failed stand-up but a shockingly effective one, and to give him salty, scabrous gags that--in Jessica Cohen's savoury translation--raise a guilty laugh." --The Economist

"Grossman has once more proved himself as one of Israel's finest literary alchemists. . . . An unsettling, cathartic, confessional stream-of-consciousness soliloquy." --Haaretz

"[A] raw and fiercely emotional book." --The Spectator

"In little more than 200 pages, Grossman brings us to the nerve center of his psyche." --The Jerusalem Post

"Few writers hold a more unflinching mirror up to Israeli society than Grossman . . . But [his work] is also suffused with compassion, acutely attuned to the complexity of individual lives and the solutions people find to the challenge of that complexity." --Financial Times

"A devastating work. . . . A lamentation and a plea for compassion and empathy. . . . A Horse Walks into a Bar is unlike anything Grossman has yet done." --The Irish Times

A New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book

"Astounding. . . . [A] magnificently comic and sucker-punch-tragic excursion into brilliance." --Gary Shteyngart, The New York Times Book Review

"Unsettling and mesmerizing. . . . As beautiful as it is unusual, and it's nearly impossible to put down." --NPR

"Bewitching. . . . Brilliant, blistering." --The Washington Post

"[Grossman] has transcended genre; or rather, he has descended deep into the vaults beneath. . . . This isn't just a book about Israel: it's about people and societies horribly malfunctioning." --The Guardian

"As cunning and compelling as the stand-up guy at its center. In this funnyman's sad, grotesque performance, Grossman reaffirms his power to entertain and unnerve." --The Boston Globe

"Arresting. . . . Grossman seems to be channeling Philip Roth, circa Portnoy's Complaint, with a colloquial voice that badgers, bullies, berates and beseeches." --San Francisco Chronicle

"A short, shocking masterpiece . . . in which absurdity and humour are used to probe the darkest corners of the human condition." --The Sunday Times (London)

"[A] pitch-black comedy. . . . It takes an author of Mr Grossman's stature to channel not a failed stand-up but a shockingly effective one, and to give him salty, scabrous gags that--in Jessica Cohen's savoury translation--raise a guilty laugh." --The Economist

"Grossman has once more proved himself as one of Israel's finest literary alchemists. . . . An unsettling, cathartic, confessional stream-of-consciousness soliloquy." --Haaretz

"[A] raw and fiercely emotional book." --The Spectator

"In little more than 200 pages, Grossman brings us to the nerve center of his psyche." --The Jerusalem Post

"Few writers hold a more unflinching mirror up to Israeli society than Grossman . . . But [his work] is also suffused with compassion, acutely attuned to the complexity of individual lives and the solutions people find to the challenge of that complexity." --Financial Times

"A devastating work. . . . A lamentation and a plea for compassion and empathy. . . . A Horse Walks into a Bar is unlike anything Grossman has yet done." --The Irish Times

Book Description:

WINNER OF THE INTERNATIONAL MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017

One of the world’s great writers venturing into exciting new territory – a heartbreaking, visceral novel about a stand-up comedian

• Publisher: Vintage
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1101973498
• ISBN 13: 9781101973493
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208