18
Nov
This may not be the most flattering photo of Etgar Keret, but it proves that we met him! Etgar Keret is an Israeli writer and the author of The Nimrod Flipout and The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God, as well as many other books of short stories.
Here are our Top 5 Highlights of Meeting Etgar Keret:
1. Learning about his family - he is the son of Holocaust survivors and has a brother and a sister. His anarchist brother is the only Israeli to have the honor of being tried (and found guilty) of practicing paganism in the Israeli army. He now lives in Thailand with his wife. For about 4 years they lived in a tree house, and now they live somewhere on land. His sister lives in Meah Shearim and has 11 children (and also some grandchildren).
2. Hearing him read his stories out loud. It was a little difficult to understand his accent, but his stories are usually read on This American Life, by someone else, so it was interesting to hear him read his own stories. Also hearing his new story that he was “testing out” on our class (and half of NY during his interview with Ira Glass).
3. Hearing him speak about why he writes and what moves him was very interesting. He very much sees himself as a Jewish writer, over being an Israeli writer, which says a lot about the way he views the world and humanity.
4. Meeting with the Israeli high school students that came to HUC to hear Etgar speak. These were some of the most thoughtful and impressive 17 year olds we’ve ever met.
5. Molly was too shy to ask him to sign her book, and Bess was too embarrassed about the condition of her book to ask him to sign it, so alas, we are left with autograph-less books.
