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“I’ve been looking at [Keret’s] Substack and it’s so witty and enjoyable, and he’s clearly having a wonderful time doing it, I thought, ‘maybe I could do that’” — Salman Rushdie, The Guardian

Glad You Asked

I love answering good questions. A good question, for me, is one that makes me think something I’ve never thought before, which is a little bit like writing a story. So, this week, it’s on you. You can ask difficult questions or easy questions, stripy questions or speckled questions, existential questions or trivial ones. I promise to reply in a meaningful way if I know the answer, and make something up if I don’t.

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Everything, Everywhere, All At Once

In the week of Holocaust remembrance, Yonit Levi of Channel 12 Israel and Jonathan Freedland of The Guardian invite Keret to their Unholy Podcast to reflect on his late mother, a survivor of the Shoah who never wanted that label, and give his take on the political turmoil (that seems to be as surrealistic as the film this episode is named after).

Also: the show's classic chutzpah and mensch awards – and a look at the gap between what Brits say and what they actually mean (also known as: the guide to understanding your British co-host).

Special thanks to Ira Glass and the team of "This American Life" for their assistance in the making of this episode. 

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"Fly Already"

If Kafka Were Israeli and Wrote About Talking Goldfish

— The New York Times.

Upcoming events

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“What About Me?“

Written by Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen for “Short Stories on Human Rights“ (2008).

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Random quote

my legs take me toward the edge of the roof. It's like scratching a wound, like ordering another shot of Chivas when you know you've had too much to drink, like driving a car when you know you're tired, so tired.

— "Fly Already"

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The Upgraded Me

In an overwhelming, unpredictable world, our virtual selves offer an appealing existential strategy.

— Illustration: Diego Patiño

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Words Without Borders, 2010

I believe that there is a truth. I believe it is very difficult to articulate that truth. I try to go in that direction, but I don’t pretend I will get there.

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New York Times, 2012

For Keret, the creative impulse resides not in a conscious devotion to the classic armature of fiction (character, plot, theme, etc.) but in an allegiance to the anarchic instigations of the subconscious. His best stories display a kind of irrepressible dream logic

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