From a “genius” (New York Times) storyteller: a new, subversive, hilarious, heart-breaking collection.

“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

There’s no one like Etgar Keret. His stories take place at the crossroads of the fantastical, searing, and hilarious. His characters grapple with parenthood and family, war and games, marijuana and cake, memory and love. These stories never go to the expected place, but always surprise, entertain, and move...

In “Arctic Lizard,” a young boy narrates a post-apocalyptic version of the world where a youth army wages an unending war, rewarded by collecting prizes. A father tries to shield his son from the inevitable in “Fly Already.” In “One Gram Short,” a guy just wants to get a joint to impress a girl and ends up down a rabbit hole of chaos and heartache. And in the masterpiece “Pineapple Crush,” two unlikely people connect through an evening smoke down by the beach, only to have one of them imagine a much deeper relationship.

The thread that weaves these pieces together is our inability to communicate, to see so little of the world around us and to understand each other even less. Yet somehow, in these pages, through Etgar’s deep love for humanity and our hapless existence, a bright light shines through and our universal connection to each other sparks alive.

Audiobook table of contents:
“Fly Already”, read by Rob Shapiro
“One Gram Short”, read by MacLeod Andrews
“The Next-to-Last Time I Was Shot Out of a Cannon”, read by John Rubinstein
“Todd”, read by Kirby Heyborne
“Tabula Rasa”, read by John Rubinstein
“Car Concentrate”, read by Rob Shapiro
“At Night”, read by Karissa Vacker
“Windows”, read by Kirby Heyborne
“To the Moon and Back”, read by MacLeod Andrews
“GooDeed”, read by John Rubinstein
“Crumb Cake”, read by Rob Shapiro
“Dad With Mashed Potatoes”, read by Karissa Vacker
“Arctic Lizard”, read by MacLeod Andrews
(Email from Michael Warshavski to Sefi Moreh), read by Rob Shapiro
(Email from Sefi Moreh to Michael Warshavski), read by Kirby Heyborne
“Ladder”, read by John Rubinstein
(Email from Michael Warshavski to Sefi Moreh), read by Rob Shapiro
(Email from Sefi Moreh to Michael Warshavski), read by Kirby Heyborne
“Yad Vashem”, read by Rob Shapiro
(Email from Michael Warshavski to Sefi Moreh), read by Rob Shapiro
(Email from Sefi Moreh to Michael Warshavski), read by Kirby Heyborne
“The Birthday of a Failed Revolutionary”, read by John Rubinstein
(Email from Michael Warshavski to Sefi Moreh), read by Rob Shapiro
“Allergies”, read by Kirby Heyborne
(Email from Sefi Moreh to Michael Warshavski), read by Kirby Heyborne
“Fungus”, read by Rob Shapiro
(Email from Michael Warshavski to Sefi Moreh), read by Rob Shapiro
“Chips”, read by MacLeod Andrews
(Email from Michael Warshavski to Sefi Moreh), read by Rob Shapiro
“Home”, read by John Rubinstein
(Email from Sefi to Chief Dept. of Rational Species Study), read by Kirby Heyborne
“Pineapple Crush”, read by MacLeod Andrews
“Evolution of a Breakup”, read by Rob Shapiro

Bringing up a child, lying to the boss, placing an order in a fast-food restaurant: in Etgar Keret’s new collection, daily life is complicated, dangerous, and full of yearning. In his most playful and most mature work yet, the living and the dead, silent children and talking animals, dreams and waking life coexist in an uneasy world. Overflowing with absurdity, humor, sadness, and compassion, the tales in Suddenly, a Knock on the Door establish Etgar Keret–declared a “genius” by The New York Times–as one of the most original writers of his generation.

Classic warped and wonderful stories from a “genius” (The New York Times) and master storyteller.
 
Brief, intense, painfully funny, and shockingly honest, Etgar Keret’s stories are snapshots that illuminate with intelligence and wit the hidden truths of life. As with the best writers of fiction, hilarity and anguish are the twin pillars of his work. Keret covers a remarkable emotional and narrative terrain—from a father’s first lesson to his boy to a standoff between soldiers caught up in the Middle East conflict to a slice of life where nothing much happens.
 
New to Riverhead’s list, these wildly inventive, uniquely humane stories are for fans of Etgar Keret’s inimitable style and readers of transforming, brilliant fiction.

A brilliant, life-affirming, and hilarious memoir from a “genius” (The New York Times) and master storyteller. With illustrations by Jason Polan.

The seven years between the birth of Etgar Keret’s son and the death of his father were good years, though still full of reasons to worry. Lev is born in the midst of a terrorist attack. Etgar’s father gets cancer. The threat of constant war looms over their home and permeates daily life.

What emerges from this dark reality is a series of sublimely absurd ruminations on everything from Etgar’s three-year-old son’s impending military service to the terrorist mind-set behind Angry Birds. There’s Lev’s insistence that he is a cat, releasing him from any human responsibilities or rules. Etgar’s siblings, all very different people who have chosen radically divergent paths in life, come together after his father’s shivah to experience the grief and love that tie a family together forever. This wise, witty memoir—Etgar’s first nonfiction book published in America, and told in his inimitable style—is full of wonder and life and love, poignant insights, and irrepressible humor.