Almost Dead - by Assaf Gavron (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"[An] original and powerful writer.... His clear and honest writing blasts right through the clichés and the politically correct surface to touch the chaotic and ambiguous core of the Israeli identity." --Etgar Keret

"In a dazzling display of empathy, Gavron creates two equally compelling narrators, the bomber and his victim. This is a virtuoso work; a pitch-perfect rendering of real Israeli life in all its chaos, energy, humor and terror. I couldn't put it down." -- Geraldine Brooks

Politically incorrect, provocative, and steeped in wit and irony, Almost Dead is a fast-paced tragicomic novel about the perfectly ordinary madness in today's Middle East.

Told through the alternating perspectives of a bomber and his victim, this breathtaking novel asks a devastating question: what happens when two lives on a collision course finally crash?

• Dual POV: Experience the unfolding tragedy from both sides: Eitan 'Croc, ' a cynical Israeli survivor, and Fahmi, the young Palestinian bomber locked in a coma, reliving the choices that led him to his fate.
• Dark Humor and Biting Irony: Navigate a world of suicide bombings, time-management start-ups, and post-trauma therapy with a voice that finds wit in the darkest corners of the conflict.
• A Haunting Survival Story: Follow Croc as he becomes an unwilling media sensation--the 'CrocAttack'--a man who keeps surviving, forcing him to confront the absurd lottery of life and death in modern Israel.
• Unflinching Social Commentary: A provocative look at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that blasts through clichés to explore the chaos, energy, and terror of real life in the Middle East.

From the Back Cover

Politically incorrect, provocative, and steeped in wit and irony, a fast-paced tragicomedy about the perfectly ordinary madness in today's Middle East

A thirtysomething Tel Aviv businessman, Eitan "Croc" Einoch's life is turned upside down when he narrowly escapes a suicide bombing on the minibus he rides to work. When he lives through a second attack, and then a third, he becomes, reluctantly, a national media celebrity. Naturally, the Palestinian terrorists responsible for the attacks are less than happy. This embarrassing symbol of their failure--this "CrocAttack"--must be neutralized.

Meanwhile, Fahmi Sabih lies in a coma, quarrelling with his conscience. The young Palestinian suicide bomber has learned everything he knows about bombs, targets, and revenge from his brother. So why has Einoch survived? As Fahmi's story unfolds, it becomes clear that their paths are destined to cross again--for there is another bombing still to come--and then luck will change drastically for one or both of them. But who, if anyone, has right on his side?

Review Quotes

"Assaf Gavron has done the impossible: written a darkly funny novel about suicide bombing. In a dazzling display of empathy, Gavron creates two equally compelling narrators, the bomber and his victim. This is a virtuoso work; a pitch-perfect rendering of real Israeli life in all its chaos, energy, humor and terror. I couldn't put it down." - Geraldine Brooks

"Assaf Gavron has done the impossible: written a darkly funny novel about suicide bombing. . . . This is a virtuoso work; a pitch-perfect rendering of real Israeli life in all its chaos, energy, humor and terror. I couldn't put it down." - Geraldine Brooks

"Gavron is one of the most original and powerful writers. . . . His clear and honest writing blasts right through the cliches and the politically correct surface to touch the chaotic and ambiguous core of the Israeli identity." - Etgar Keret