Rhyming Life and Death

Fiction and reality merge inside the mind of a famous Israeli author in this ';hilarious and profound…slyly philosophical novel' (Booklist). In this novel, Amos Oz offers a prismatic portrait of the storytelling impulse, with an extended glimpse inside the mind of a celebrated, unnamed Author. On a stiflingly hot night, the Author is in Tel Aviv to give a reading from his new book. As his attention wanders, he begins to invent lives for the strangers he sees around him: here, a self-styled cultural guru, Yakir Bar-Orian Zhitomirski; there, a love-starved professional reader, Rochele Reznik; to say nothing of Ricky the waitress, the real object of his desires. Reality and fiction blend in this ingenious, poignant work by the author of A Tale of Love and Darkness, a winner of the Koret Jewish Book Award. ';A fable on themes of sex, death and writing pitched somewhere between the fictional universes of JM Coetzee and Milan Kundera.' The Guardian ';The witty and melancholy recorder of his country's brilliant sufficiencies…. Now Oz takes an equally witty, equally melancholy look at his role as a writer.' Los Angeles Times ';From the prodigious Oz comes a delightfully elusive… story of imagination, talent and the transitory nature of fame…. Stamped with Oz's charm and graceful skill in creating rich characters.' Publishers Weekly