Scan barcode
jelisela's review
2.0
There were some good short stories, but for me, too many stories in this collection featured the abuse of women. It's not something I enjoy being presented frequently.
zimlicious's review
4.0
http://zimlicious.blogspot.com/2012/01/girl-on-fridge-etgar-keret.html
Etgar Keret is one of the authors I've come across in 2011 and instantly loved. My sister suggested I read him, and the first book of his she gave me was Kneller's Happy Campers. When she told me it was the book the movie Wristcutters was based on, I was sold.
While Kneller's Happy Campers was a tiny novel, this is a collection of his short stories. The first one called Asthma Attack is one-paragraph long. I'm mentioning this because for me, it's always way much harder to tell a story in fewer words. Keret wrote a powerful story in a few sentences, and that left me wanting more right from the beginning.
My number one favorite from the book was Crazy Glue. Others I loved were Freece, Painting, Hat Trick and The Girl on the Fridge. His stories and settings are simple, yet with the characters and the evens that unfold, they're deep and emotional. Mentioning emotional, some of them just fuck with yours. Some of them surprised me, some of them made me laugh, some of them shocked me and some just plain freaked me out. If you're looking for something out of the ordinary to read, I definitely suggest you check this book out.
Etgar Keret is one of the authors I've come across in 2011 and instantly loved. My sister suggested I read him, and the first book of his she gave me was Kneller's Happy Campers. When she told me it was the book the movie Wristcutters was based on, I was sold.
While Kneller's Happy Campers was a tiny novel, this is a collection of his short stories. The first one called Asthma Attack is one-paragraph long. I'm mentioning this because for me, it's always way much harder to tell a story in fewer words. Keret wrote a powerful story in a few sentences, and that left me wanting more right from the beginning.
My number one favorite from the book was Crazy Glue. Others I loved were Freece, Painting, Hat Trick and The Girl on the Fridge. His stories and settings are simple, yet with the characters and the evens that unfold, they're deep and emotional. Mentioning emotional, some of them just fuck with yours. Some of them surprised me, some of them made me laugh, some of them shocked me and some just plain freaked me out. If you're looking for something out of the ordinary to read, I definitely suggest you check this book out.
boygirlparty's review
3.0
At their best, the stories in this book are disorienting and wonderful, turning the world around for you to look at it from a strange angle, kaleidoscope style. At their worst, the stories are jarring and abrupt, violent and confusing, but still interesting, except that one that wasn't. It's a mishmash. I think the stories at the end of the book may not have been translated as well as the ones at the beginning. You've got to love the one paragraph opener about asthma, though.
acinthedc's review
3.0
Amusing and quick read. Although I think a few things get lost in translation in some of the stories.
localcourtjester's review
5.0
Keret's surreal short stories, some of them not more than a few paragraphs are life-altering, i vastly enjoyed these to his other collection (Suddenly, a Knock at the Door) as some of these have a much more positive outcome, however, the man never ceases to amaze me. As a writer, i found his work very eye-opening into the wonders of short fiction and in the ways that writing can be used. My only regret is that i am unable to read these storie sin the original Hebrew in which they were written.
danbydame's review
4.0
This book is, in turns, like
-- a bag of M&Ms. Each story is so short, you keep reading just one more, just one more... until guilt finally catches up with consumption
-- a literary peepshow. You get quick glimpses into extremely personal layers of everyday people's not-so-everyday thoughts and imaginings. Some are mesmerizing, some you wish, fruitlessly, that you could unsee.
-- a sideways step into a logically sound yet wholly impossible alternate "today".
-- a hint of what the world might look like to someone who has slowly gone mad and hasn't noticed yet.
Not for everyone, but definitely recommend it for Emma, possibly Jessica.
-- a bag of M&Ms. Each story is so short, you keep reading just one more, just one more... until guilt finally catches up with consumption
-- a literary peepshow. You get quick glimpses into extremely personal layers of everyday people's not-so-everyday thoughts and imaginings. Some are mesmerizing, some you wish, fruitlessly, that you could unsee.
-- a sideways step into a logically sound yet wholly impossible alternate "today".
-- a hint of what the world might look like to someone who has slowly gone mad and hasn't noticed yet.
Not for everyone, but definitely recommend it for Emma, possibly Jessica.
thepentheimk's review
2.0
Unlike Keret's others, this is a messy collection of early stories, with little to recommend it. The Nimrod Flip-out is funnier, The Bus Driver Who Thought He Was God was more poignant, and in general, the only use of this is to prove that even talented authors stumbled earlier in their careers.
giantarms's review
3.0
Etgar Keret is all the time being read on the radio. They are always these tantalizing little moments in time that leave you wondering. It is easy for me to this man's work as very appealing to some (I'm looking at you Melissa). But as for me, I need a little more closure in my stories. Now, if somebody were to read these stories into a spoken word thing, well, that'd be different.
In any event, I like the title story best. And now I'm done.
In any event, I like the title story best. And now I'm done.