The Seven Good Years: A MemoirA brilliant, life-affirming, and hilarious memoir from a “genius” (The New York Times) and master storyteller. With illustrations by Jason Polan. The seven years between the birth of Etgar Keret’s son and the death of his father were good years, though still full of reasons to worry. Lev is born in the midst of a terrorist attack. Etgar’s father gets cancer. The threat of constant war looms over their home and permeates daily life. What emerges from this dark reality is a series of sublimely absurd ruminations on everything from Etgar’s three-year-old son’s impending military service to the terrorist mind-set behind Angry Birds. There’s Lev’s insistence that he is a cat, releasing him from any human responsibilities or rules. Etgar’s siblings, all very different people who have chosen radically divergent paths in life, come together after his father’s shivah to experience the grief and love that tie a family together forever. This wise, witty memoir—Etgar’s first nonfiction book published in America, and told in his inimitable style—is full of wonder and life and love, poignant insights, and irrepressible humor. |
Contents
3 | |
Yours Insincerely | 21 |
Requiem for a Dream | 37 |
Throwdown at the Playground | 51 |
Matchstick War | 60 |
What Does the Man Say? | 76 |
Imaginary Homeland | 93 |
Shi Happens | 108 |
Ground Up | 123 |
A Mustache for My Son | 140 |
Shiva | 151 |
Fare and Good | 164 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
already Amnon anymore Aviv Avraham bathroom Beersheba Bnei Brak brother cabdriver chuppah Daddy Devora says Disneyland Paris door dream driver Eiffel Tower Etgar Keret explained eyes Facebook father feel festival flight girl hand happy hot dog hugged insisted iPhone Irgun Israel Israeli Kibbutz knew Kobi later Lev says Lev's listened living room lizard looked managed Mickey middle minute missiles mother mustache never night nodded Olmert parents Pastrami plane Poland rabbi Ramat Gan seat Shabbat Shefayim shekels Shira shiva shouted sister sitting smile someone sorry sounded started stop story street Swiss guy talking taxi Tel Aviv tell there's thing thought told took tried trying voice waiting walked week What's whispered wife writer yarmulke yell Yom Kippur Zagreb