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The Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land: SHORTLISTED FOR THE WINGATE PRIZE
Omer Friedlander
Formats & Editions
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WINGATE PRIZE 2022
'In these wise, capacious, achingly beautiful stories, Omer Friedlander maps the hidden geography of the human heart like a young Chekhov' ANTHONY MARRA
'A beautiful debut by a deeply humane writer. Every story is a vivid world unto itself, intensely felt, and often revelatory' NICOLE KRAUSS
A divorced con-artist and his young daughter sell empty bottles of 'holy' air to credulous tourists.
In a bombed-out Beirut radio station, a Lebanese Scheherazade enchants three young soldiers with her nightly tales.
Ahead of a school 'Show and Tell', two brothers kidnap a Shoah survivor from a supermarket to pose as their grandfather.
An Israeli volunteer at a West Bank checkpoint mourns the death of her son, a soldier killed in Gaza.
From the limestone alleyways of Jerusalem to the desolate Negev Desert and the sprawling orange groves of Jaffa, Omer Friedlander's stories are fairy tales turned on their head by the stakes of real life, where moments of fragile intimacy mix with comedy and notes of the absurd.
Casting his eye, not on the region's conflicts, but on the hopes and failures of its people, The Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land is at times darkly funny, at others quietly devastating.
Read MorePraise for The Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land: SHORTLISTED FOR THE WINGATE PRIZE
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A marvelous new voice, bringing magic, change and surprise without ever losing sight of the human and the real. I'd follow this writer anywhereWhat is most striking is how full of deeply felt human experience and authentic emotion his fiction is. Every one of these stories moved me and taught me something I did not know beforeAs outrageously funny as they are outrageously tender, Friedlander's stories conjure complex and often difficult emotions with perfect acrobatic skill. A superb collectionRarely do we encounter a writer so young but also this wise. Innovative in conception, classical in spirit: a splendid literary debutA remarkable talent. These stories transcend the particular to become intricately crafted fables, each a country unto itselfOne of those rare authors who can trap each moment in a surprising and somehow perfect detail. A major work - I'd urge you to read itBeautifully written . . . an exceptionally thoughtful writer
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