Suddenly, a Knock on the Door: Stories

Bringing up a child, lying to the boss, placing an order in a fast-food restaurant: in Etgar Keret's new collection, daily life is complicated, dangerous, and full of yearning. In his most playful and most mature work yet, the living and the dead, silent children and talking animals, dreams and waking life coexist in an uneasy world. Overflowing with absurdity, humor, sadness, and compassion, the tales in Suddenly, a Knock on the Door establish Etgar Keret--declared a "genius" byThe New York Times--as one of the most original writers of his generation.

Born in Tel Aviv in 1967, Etgar Keret is the author of six bestselling story collections. His writing has been published inHarper's Magazine, The New York Times, The Paris Review, and Zoetrope.Jellyfish, his first movie as a director along with his wife, Shira Geffen, won the Camera d'Or prize for best first feature at Cannes in 2007. In 2010 he was named a Chevalier of France's Order of Arts and Letters.