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Rating: 
Summary: Great Short Fiction from Israel
Review: Although wildly popular in his native Israel, this collection is the first of Keret's work to be published in the US. Two-thirds of the small book is given over to 22 equally small short stories, all ranging from 5-8 pages or so. These stories are difficult to characterize, although they generally feature alienated males (often children or teenagers), and the writing is universally deft and satirically witty with an underlying tone of irony and sorrow-occasionally drifting into unreality. Any description of them would not do them justice at all. I don't read enough American writers to think up a good comparison, although I would say Kerst shares some of Jonathan Lethem and Mark Jude Porier's territory. However, what the stories more similar to is some of the short fiction that came out of Scotland in the early to mid-'90s from people like Gordon Legge, Duncan McLean, and James Kelman, who also write very brief stories. Perhaps most of all, the book bears comparison to the absurdist fables of another Scot, Magnus Mills (All Quiet on the Orient Express, The Restraint of Beasts, Three To See The King). The novella which occupies the final third of the book, "Kneller's Happy Campers", about the afterlife of those who commit suicide, is especially redolent of Mills' odd and affecting mix of black humor and fantasy. The collection is drawn and translated from Keret's bestselling collections in Israel, and one can only hope that more makes it into English and across the shores.
Rating: 
Summary: thoughtful and original.
Review: Etgar Keret takes the term "short story" very literally. The majority of the stories don't exceed four pages. Keret doesn't engage in excessive prose, he doesn't devote much energy to setting a scene. He punches you on the nose with a story, then runs away. In the hands of any other author, this technique could be problematic: It doesn't allow the reader to truly know or care about his characters, and the only atmosphere present is the brevity of Keret's style. But it works because he is a very skilled storyteller, more concerned with walloping the reader over the head with a message and a purpose than taking the time to pull you into another world. Each story is a fable, a fairy tale. The short length and lack of detail can prove to be misleading--these are very complicated, well-thought out stories. They don't take long to read, but it does require time and brain-power to comprehend them. A few stories fall flat. "Uterus," for instance. Sometimes I got the impression that something was lost in translation. But "The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God: & Other Stories" is a very satisfying collection, meaty in ideas if not physical heft.
Rating: 
Summary: Keret's stories unique, but way too short
Review: This book is small first of all. The area of text per page is 5.5 inches by 3.5 inches. The pages are small, and each story averages about 4 pages. But considering the size of the book (small) the stories end up being the equivalent to 1-2 more normal-sized pages, taking about 1-2 minutes to read each. The stories often jump right into the action, get right to the point and the heart of the story and then comes to some sort of conclusion, not always a pleasing one. A lot of the time it seems as though maybe keret had a much longer story, took 1-2 pages from the middle of that and threw it in this book. Most of the stories were unique ideas, and he seems to have a creative talent, though i feel that talent is not well developed in this book. Because the stories are so so short there is no time to actually care about the characters and what happens. Kind of like if you watch the first 10 minutes of a movie and then turn it off and walk away. You don't care about those characters because you were only with them for 10 minutes. Like the story of the boy and his piggybank. Kerat writes of a boy who wants a toy, but his father says no, earn the money yourself and gives him a piggybank. Boy grows fond of the piggybank, no longer wants the toy he is saving the money for. Sets the pig free in a field so his father won't smash it open for the money. That's the whole story. In the end i was thinking "ok, so what?" what was i supposed to get from that? Was i supposed to care? Get attached to a character i read about for 2 pages? I find most of the stories in this collection disappointing for the reason that the stories are too short and i feel, undeveloped, to really care about the characters and situations. Though keret has some unique stories and ideas, i find myself forgetting what some stories are about. Kerat would be best i think in a longer format, stories that are 10 pages or more, but to me, these 4 pagers just don't cut it.
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