The acclaimed author of To the End of the Land now gives us a searing short novel about the life of a standup comic as revealed in the course of one evening's performance--comedy that will lean inexorably toward tragedy. In a little dive in a small Israeli city, Dov Greenstein, a comedian a bit past his prime, is doing a night of standup. In the audience is a district court justice, Avishai Lazar, whom Dov knew as a boy, along with a few others who remember Dov as the awkward, scrawny kid who walked on his hands to confound the neighborhood bullies. Gradually, teetering between hilarity and hysteria, Dov's patter becomes a kind of memoir, taking us back into the terrors of his childhood--his beautiful flower of a mother, a Holocaust survivor in need of constant monitoring; his punishing father, a striver who had little understanding of his creative son. Finally, recalling his week at a military camp for youth--where Lazar witnessed what became the central event of Dov's childhood--Dov
Winner of Man Booker International Prize 2017. A Guardian and New Statesman Book of the Year. The setting is a comedy club in a small Israeli town. An audience that has come expecting an evening of am
**WINNER OF THE 2017 MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE**The award-winning and internationally acclaimed author of the To the End of the Land now gives us a searing short novel about the life of a st
Did you hear the one about the horse that walks into a bar? The likely answer to this is 'yes', but regardless, it's the classic gags that keep people laughing time after time. This book includes joke
The enchanting festive poem from Carol Ann Duffy, former Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, and adorned with sumptuous illustrations by artist Margaux Carpentier, Christmas Eve at The Moon Under Water is the perfect festive gift for the poetry lover in your life. All the lights were on at The Moon Under Waterand the landlord, an Owl, was slowly pulling a pintto test his ale. Toothsome.It was Christmas Eveand the fire in the ancient grate gargled its flames... A horse walks into a bar. A hedgehog plays the piano.An owl mulls a flagon of wine. On Christmas Eve at The Moon Under Water, anything is possible, so when the landlord announces a festive prize for the best performance of the night, all and sundry pile into the pub, eager for a chance at victory. In Christmas Eve at The Moon Under Water all the old rivalries of the natural world are suspended for one miraculous night, as man stands shoulder to shoulder with animal, and predator and prey add warble and wail to the Yuletide choru