Nathan Englander

The Pulitzer finalist delivers his best work yet--a brilliant, streamlined comic novel, reminiscent of early Philip Roth and of his own most masterful stories, about a son's failure to say Kaddish for his fatherLarry is an atheist in a family of orthodox Memphis Jews. When his father dies, it is his responsibility as the surviving son to recite the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, every day for eleven months. To the horror and dismay of his mother and sisters, Larry refuses--thus imperiling the fate of his father's soul. To appease them, and in penance for failing to mourn his father correctly, he hatches an ingenious if cynical plan, hiring a stranger through a website called kaddish.com to recite the daily prayer and shepherd his father's soul safely to rest.This is Nathan Englander's freshest and funniest work to date--a satire that touches, lightly and with unforgettable humor, on the conflict between religious and secular worlds, and the hypocrisies that run through both. A novel about atonement; about spiritual redemption; and about the soul-sickening temptations of the internet, which, like God, is everywhere.

These eight new stories from the celebrated novelist and short-story writer Nathan Englander display a gifted young author grappling with the great questions of modern life, with a command of language and the imagination that place Englander at the very forefront of contemporary American fiction. The title story, inspired by Raymond Carver’s masterpiece, is a provocative portrait of two marriages in which the Holocaust is played out as a devastating parlor game. In the outlandishly dark “Camp Sundown” vigilante justice is undertaken by a group of geriatric campers in a bucolic summer enclave. “Free Fruit for Young Widows” is a small, sharp study in evil, lovingly told by a father to a son. “Sister Hills” chronicles the history of Israel’s settlements from the eve of the Yom Kippur War through the present, a political fable constructed around the tale of two mothers who strike a terrible bargain to save a child. Marking a return to two of Englander’s classic themes, “Peep Show” and “How We Avenged the Blums” wrestle with sexual longing and ingenuity in the face of adversity and peril. And “Everything I Know About My Family on My Mother’s Side” is suffused with an intimacy and tenderness that break new ground for a writer who seems constantly to be expanding the parameters of what he can achieve in the short form. Beautiful and courageous, funny and achingly sad, Englander’s work is a revelation.

A work of stunning authority and imagination - a book that is as wondrous and joyful as it is wrenchingly sad, and that heralds the arrival of a profoundly gifted new storyteller.Already sold in eight countries around the world, these nine energized, irreverent stories from Nathan Englander introduce an astonishing new talent. In Englander's amazingly taut and ambitious "The Twenty-seventh Man," a clerical error lands earnest, unpublished Pinchas Pelovits in prison with twenty-six writers slated for execution at Stalin's command, and in the grip of torture Pinchas composes a mini-masterpiece, which he recites in one glorious moment before author and audience are simultaneously annihilated. In "The Gilgul of Park Avenue," a Protestant has a religious awakening in the back of a New York taxi. In the collection's hilarious title story, a Hasidic man incensed by his wife's interminable menstrual cycle gets a dispensation from his rabbi to see a prostitute. The stories in For the Relief of Unbearable Urges are powerfully inventive and often haunting, steeped in the weight of Jewish history and in the customs of Orthodox life. But it is in the largeness of their spirit-- a spirit that finds in doubt a doorway to faith, that sees in despair a chance for the heart to deepen--and in the wisdom that so prodigiously transcends the author's twenty-eight years, that these stories are truly remarkable. Nathan Englander envisions a group of Polish Jews herded toward a train bound for Auschwitz and in a deft imaginative twist turns them into acrobats tumbling out of harm's way; he takes an elderly wigmaker and makes her, for a single moment, beautiful. Again and again, Englander does what feels he finds, wherever he looks, a province beyond death's dominion.For the Relief of Unbearable Urges is a work of stunning authority and imagination--a book that is as wondrous and joyful as it is wrenchingly sad, and that heralds the arrival of a profoundly gifted new storyteller.

In the heart of Argentina’s Dirty War, Kaddish Poznan struggles with a son who won’t accept him; strives for a wife who forever saves him; and spends his nights protecting the good name of a community that denies his existence--and denies a checkered history that only Kaddish holds dear.The long-awaited novel from Nathan Englander, author of For the Relief of Unbearable Urges. Englander’s wondrous and much-heralded collection of stories won the 2000 Pen/Malamud Award and was translated into more than a dozen languages. From its unforgettable opening scene in the darkness of a forgotten cemetery in Buenos Aires, The Ministry of Special Cases casts a powerful spell. In the heart of Argentina’s Dirty War, Kaddish Poznan struggles with a son who won’t accept him; strives for a wife who forever saves him; and spends his nights protecting the good name of a community that denies his existence--and denies a checkered history that only Kaddish holds dear. When the nightmare of the disappeared children brings the Poznan family to its knees, they are thrust into the unyielding corridors of the Ministry of Special Cases, the refuge of last resort. Nathan Englander’s first novel is a timeless story of fathers and sons. In a world turned upside down, where the past and the future, the nature of truth itself, all take shape according to a corrupt government’s whims, one man--one spectacularly hopeless man--fights to overcome his history and his name, and, if for only once in his life, to put things right. Here again are all the marvelous qualities for which Englander’s first book was immediately beloved: his exuberant wit and invention, his cosmic sense of the absurd, his genius for balancing joyfulness and despair. Through the devastation of a single family, Englander captures, indelibly, the grief of a nation. The Ministry of Special Cases, like Englander’s stories before it, is a celebration of our humanity, in all its weakness, and--despite that--hope.

A prisoner in a secret cell. The guard who has watched over him a dozen years. An American waitress in Paris. A young Palestinian man in Berlin who strikes up an odd friendship with a wealthy Canadian businessman. And The General, Israel's most controversial leader, who lies dying in a hospital, the only man who knows of the prisoner's existence.From these vastly different lives Nathan Englander has woven a powerful, intensely suspenseful portrait of a nation riven by insoluble conflict, even as the lives of its citizens become fatefully and inextricably entwined--a political thriller of the highest order that interrogates the anguished, violent division between Israelis and Palestinians, and dramatizes the immense moral ambiguities haunting both sides. Who is right, who is wrong--who is the guard, who is truly the prisoner?

A story from the collection FOR THE RELIEF OF UNBEARABLE URGES, a work of startling authority and imagination–an audiobook that is as wondrous and joyful as it is wrenchingly sad.

Free online fiction from the New Yorker.Short story about an Israeli man who explains to his son why he gives an old war comrade who once beat him badly free produce everyday…

Electric Literature's sixth anthology travels highways, the waters of New York's harbors, and the grooves of a burned out LP. In Matt Sumell's "OK," a son visits his stubbornly suicidal father at his flea infested home.In "Where We Missed Was Everywhere," by Mary Otis, a brother and sister seek refuge from a funeral in a Beach Boys classic. The siblings in Marc Basch's "Three" react to one brother's dealings with a kid bully they encounter on a back country road. The subjects of a starvation experiment in Steve Edward's "Daily Bread" find their worlds reduced to the size of their stomachs. And the anthology's final story, "The Reader" by Nathan Englander, chronicles a discouraged author haunted by his one remaining reader.

A story from the collection FOR THE RELIEF OF UNBEARABLE URGES, in which Englander envisions a group of Polish Jews herded toward a train bound for the death camps and, in a deft, imaginative twist, turns them into acrobats tumbling out of harm’s way. FOR THE RELIEF OF UNBEARABLE URGES is a work of startling authority and imagination–an audiobook that is as wondrous and joyful as it is wrenchingly sad.A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK “Taut, edgy, sharply observed. . . . A revelation of the human condition.” –The New York Times Book Review

A story from the collection FOR THE RELIEF OF UNBEARABLE URGES, a work of startling authority and imagination–an audiobook that is as wondrous and joyful as it is wrenchingly sad.A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK“Taut, edgy, sharply observed. . . . A revelation of the human condition.” –The New York Times Book Review

A story from the collection FOR THE RELIEF OF UNBEARABLE URGES, a work of startling authority and imagination–an audiobook that is as wondrous and joyful as it is wrenchingly sad. “The Wig” takes an aging wigmaker and makes her, for a single moment, beautiful.A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK “Taut, edgy, sharply observed. . . . A revelation of the human condition.” –The New York Times Book Review

A story from the collection FOR THE RELIEF OF UNBEARABLE URGES, a work of startling authority and imagination–an audiobook that is as wondrous and joyful as it is wrenchingly sad.A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK “Taut, edgy, sharply observed. . . . A revelation of the human condition.” –The New York Times Book Review

In Reb Kringle si legge di un rabbino che viene costretto dalla moglie e dal bisogno urgente di denaro a indossare ogni anno un costume per andare a impersonare in un grande magazzino un ruolo non troppo congeniale alla sua fede e al suo amor proprio, salvo poi non riuscire un bel giorno, di fronte a un fatto inaspettato, a sopportare più la situazione; in For the Relief of Unbearable Urges possiamo invece seguire la storia di una marito sull'orlo di una crisi coniugale per il rifiuto persistente della consorte di avere rapporti con lui, che poi, seguendo il consiglio e l'autorizzazione del suo rabbino, si decide a esplorare vie alternative per "alleviare insopportabili impulsi" (ma la cosa non andrà esattamente nel modo sperato).L'esperienza dell'infanzia e dell'adolescenza, passate in una comunità ebrea ortodossa, e la successiva radicale trasformazione in un "ateo timorato di Dio" spiegano bene l'atteggiamento di Englander nei confronti del "suo" mondo, verso cui dimostra insieme ironico scetticismo e una evidente empatia, se non anche simpatia. È in particolare lo scarto tra le esigenze più e umane e la fedeltà alle norme della tradizione, così come il problema dell'interpretazione di queste norme, con tutte le complicazioni anche più banali che ne derivano, quello che interessa a Englander; egli dimostra la sua massima abilità di scrittore quando rappresenta i suoi personaggi, ebrei ortodossi, di fronte a situazioni di crisi - spirituale, morale, emotiva, sessuale- che con più forza mettono in luce contraddizioni e paradossi.

In honor of International Book Week, Haaretz Newspaper handed over the reins of the newspaper to top authors from Israel and around the world.Israel's literary giants Etgar Keret and Sami Michael, American author Nathan Englander and Sweden's Henning Mankell were just some of the writers to take temporary leave from their books to investigate, report and opine for this special edition of Haaretz.

In this short story from Nathan Englander's collection For the Relief of Unbearable Urges, a young man living in Jerusalem witnesses the effects of terrorist bombings on the citizens' everyday lives.

A Vintage Shorts “Short Story Month” Selection Allen Fein— née Ari Feinberg—is on his way to Port Authority when he hears “Girls,” the hawker says. “Three-hundred-and-sixty-degree all-around stage.” This is the Times Square Allen remembers. But he’s a married man now. Well, maybe one little peek . . . From one of the most dazzling voices in contemporary literature, “Peep Show” is a funny, surprising, surreal story of sexual longing and the deeper shadows of desire. In the peep show, you never know who’s behind the curtain. A selection from the acclaimed volume What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, winner of the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. An eBook short.

A story from the collection FOR THE RELIEF OF UNBEARABLE URGES, a work of startling authority and imagination–an audiobook that is as wondrous and joyful as it is wrenchingly sad.A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK “Taut, edgy, sharply observed. . . . A revelation of the human condition.” –The New York Times Book Review

Weerzien in het midden van de aarde is de langverwachte nieuwe roman van de Pulitzerprijs genomineerde Nathan Englander. Nathan Englander debuteerde in 1999 met de verhalenbundel Verlost van vleselijke verlangens, gevolgd door zijn veelgeprezen roman Het ministerie van Buitengewone Zaken. Zijn verhalenbundel Waar we het over hebben wanneer we het over Anne Frank hebben verscheen in 2012 en werd enthousiast onthaald.‘Superieure vertelkunst.’ – Vrij NederlandIsraël 2014, nabij Tel Aviv. De naamloze Gevangene Z wordt al jarenlang in de gaten gehouden door drie camera’s (vier zou een overkill zijn) en één bewaker. De enige die hem kan vrijlaten is de Generaal, maar die ligt in coma – iets wat de Gevangene niet weet. Een aantal jaar daarvoor sloten een Palestijn en een Canadese zakenman een merkwaardig soort vriendschap in Berlijn, die op desastreuze wijze werd beëindigd toen de Canadees een Israëlisch geheim agent bleek. Niets is wat het lijkt in deze politieke roman, want wie vertelt de waarheid? Alles blijkt met elkaar verband te houden, met Palestina en met Israël, om te eindigen in een romantisch diner op een schuilplek in het midden van de aarde. Want zelfs in een conflictgebied bloeit liefde op.

Een Jeruzalemse chassied wiens vrouw hem de echtelijke sponde weigert, krijgt van zijn rabbi toestemming om in Tel Aviv een prostituee te bezoeken. Bij terugkomst in Jeruzalem blijkt hij een druiper te hebben opgelopen. Een groep Poolse joden op weg naar een concentratiekamp, mengt zich tijdens de treinreis ongezien onder een groep circusartiesten, en doet zich voor ais acrobaten. Ze treden op in een theater voor een groot publiek, dat - overduidelijk - uit Duitsers bestaat, waaronder Hitler. Een groep van z6j1ddische schrijvers wordt tijdens het Stalin-regime gearresteerd. Hun executie wordt vastgelegd door een jood die nog nooit een boek heeft gepubliceerd. Een witbebaarde chassied wordt ontslagen als freelance joodse kerstman. Een was waspy zakenman wordt zich tijdens een taxirit bewust van zijn joodse wortels. En in het tragische slotverhaal beschrijft Englander Jeruzalem in de uren na een bomexplosie.

Include the following short For the Relief of Unbearable Urges (Nathan Englander), San (Lan Samantha Chang), Project Mayhem (Chuck Palahniuk, first apparition of this chapter of the famous "Fight Club"), The Finest Wife (Elizabeth Gilbert), Cathal's Lake (Colum McCann), Salvation (Jan Meissner) The Unseen Ear of God (Adrianne Harun) Inherit (Andes Van Syckle), Vestiges - (Wendy J. Henning), The Testimony of Molly Flynn (Stewart David Ikeda) Songbird (Lynn Freed), Blood Sounds (Sylvia Foley), Desire Lines (Starling Lawrence), Death by Mochi (Marian Pierce), Marvane Street (Walter Mosley)

The Ministry of Special Cases <> Paperback <> NathanEnglander <> VintageBooksUSA

For the Relief of Unbearable Urges <> Paperback <> NathanEnglander <> VintageBooksUSA

Reb Kringle (Nathan Englander); High Speeds (Chris Adrian); Lunch (Joseph Monninger); Always ask for Cash (Alan Lightman); And the Waters Prevailed (Keith Taylor); Snake (Bray Udall); His Moods (Bo Caldwell); Twinkle (Marion de Booy Wentzien); Roads (Daniel Stern); Everest (Emily Cerf); Disguises (Jean Fong Kwok); Death Watch (Joyce Carol Oates);

Hebrew language book

Pulitzer finalist and best-selling author Nathan Englander will be joined by author Mira Jacob (The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing) to discuss his new, "many-splendored" (The New York Times) novel, Dinner at the Center of the Earth, a powerful, riveting story exploring the Israel-Palestine conflict through the lives of a prisoner in a secret cell and the soldier who watched over him for a dozen years. With a performance from the novel by actor Josh Hamilton (13 Reasons Why).

Verhaal uit de bundel "Waar we het over hebben wanneer we het over Anne Frank hebben"