The Book of Other People

Oct 26, 2024 4:35 PM

Author:Zadie Smith

The Book of Other People is just that: a book of other people. Open its covers and you’ll make a whole host of new acquaintances. Nick Hornby and Posy Simmonds present the ever-diverging writing life of Jamie Johnson; Hari Kunzru twitches open his net curtains to reveal the irrepressible Magda Mandela (at 4:30a.m., in her lime-green thong); Jonathan Safran Foer's Grandmother offers cookies to sweeten the tale of her heart scan; and Dave Eggers, George Saunders, David Mitchell, Colm Tóibín, A.M. Homes, Chris Ware and many more each have someone to introduce to you, too.

With an introduction by Zadie Smith and brand-new stories from over twenty of the best writers of their generation from both sides of the Atlantic, The Book of Other People is as dazzling and inventive as its authors, and as vivid and wide-ranging as its characters.

Reviews

Novel and touching and fun

—— Sunday Times

A highly enjoyable alchemy

—— The London Paper

A collection of short, surreal fragments that place the reader in peculiar and often moving worlds

—— Metro

A beguiling, savagely funny collection of stories...he'll leave you with more questions than answers but you'll feel all the better for it

—— Daniel Trilling , New Statesman

These are 46 horror stories from Israel, though they acrobatically shape-shift from the political to the fabulous, and are outwardly comic... I enjoyed these wild, blackly inventive pieces very much at times

—— Todd McEwan , Guardian

Etgar Keret is a writer to be taken seriously

—— Yann Martel

Keret's surreal conceits are couched in a wry, downbeat language...The effect is something like a sorrowful hybrid of Kafka and Donald Barthelme: deadpan on the surface, with a bassnote of discomfort and emotional alienation that makes even the briefest tales snag in the mind...Each piece is at once universal and particular...world-class gems. The translation is brilliant, too

—— Tim Martin , Daily Telegraph

Etgar Keret is the voice of young Israel

—— Independent

One of the greatest short story writers alive

—— Ben Rice

One of the most important writers alive... enchantingly witty

—— Clive James

Etgar Keret's extraordinary imagination sets the reader free from slogans and headlines

—— Linda Grant

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