{"product_id":"the-man-who-sold-air-in-the-holy-land-9781399803946","title":"The Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Friedlander''s shimmering prose and admirably versatile points of view make his stories compelling'' SARAH MOSS\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''In these wise, capacious, achingly beautiful stories, Omer Friedlander maps the hidden geography of the human heart like a young Chekhov'' ANTHONY MARRA\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''A beautiful debut by a deeply humane writer. Every story is a vivid world unto itself, intensely felt, and often revelatory'' NICOLE KRAUSS\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA divorced con-artist and his young daughter sell empty bottles of ''holy'' air to credulous tourists. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn a bombed-out Beirut radio station, a Lebanese Scheherazade enchants three young soldiers with her nightly tales.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAhead of a school ''Show and Tell'', two brothers kidnap a Shoah survivor from a supermarket to pose as their grandfather.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn Israeli volunteer at a West Bank checkpoint mourns the death of her son, a soldier killed in Gaza.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the limestone alleyways of Jerusalem to the desolate Negev Des\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA marvelous new voice, bringing magic, change and surprise without ever losing sight of the human and the real. I'd follow this writer anywhere\u003c\/b\u003e -- REBECCA MAKKAI\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhat is most striking is how full of deeply felt human experience and authentic emotion his fiction is. Every one of these stories moved me and taught me something I did not know before\u003c\/b\u003e -- SIGRID NUNEZ\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAs outrageously funny as they are outrageously tender, Friedlander's stories conjure complex and often difficult emotions with perfect acrobatic skill. A superb collection\u003c\/b\u003e -- KIRAN DESAI\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e[Omer Friedlander's stories] are so vividly drawn they feel like whole worlds in themselves . . . I fell in love with these weird, wacky and ultimately human characters. At times devastating, and other times ridiculous, these tales will stay with me\u003c\/b\u003e * Good Housekeeping, Books of the Year *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRarely do we encounter a writer so young but also this wise. Innovative in conception, classical in spirit: a splendid literary debut\u003c\/b\u003e -- HA JIN\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA remarkable talent. \u003c\/b\u003eThese stories transcend the particular to become intricately crafted fables, \u003cb\u003eeach a country unto itself\u003c\/b\u003e -- ELLIOT ACKERMAN\u003cbr\u003eOne of those rare authors who can trap each moment in a surprising and somehow perfect detail. \u003cb\u003eA major work - I'd urge you to read it\u003c\/b\u003e -- DARIN STRAUSS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBeautifully written . . . an exceptionally thoughtful writer\u003c\/b\u003e -- KEVIN POWERS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThere's a touch of magic in these stories reminiscent of I.B. Singer and Nathan Englander.  But the world Friedlander creates is all his own.  Through his orange-grove workers, junk collectors, soldiers, and grieving mothers, he makes Israel and Palestine-the whole history of the Middle East-come alive. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land\u003c\/i\u003e is an astonishing, breathtaking debut.\u003c\/b\u003e -- JOSHUA HENKIN, author of Morningside Heights\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFriedlander's humane explorations of love, friendship and the unending cost of conflict, against backdrops that range from orange groves in Jaffa to a check point in Gaza, are in turn funny, tender and achingly compassionate\u003c\/b\u003e * Jewish Chronicle *\u003cbr\u003eFriedlander's \u003cb\u003eskillfully crafted, imagistic prose captivates and soars\u003c\/b\u003e. With this collection, \u003cb\u003eFriedlander positions himself as poised to join a formidable cadre that includes writers such as David Grossman and Etgar Keret\u003c\/b\u003e * Kirkus *\u003cbr\u003eFriedlander imbues his characters with a deeply felt humanity, and his finely tuned command of emotional tenor \u003cb\u003ewill evoke\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003etears and laughter in equal measure\u003c\/b\u003e * Publishers Weekly, Starred Review *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eOmer Friedlander captures Israel through a lens that is equally sensitive, whimsical, and critical...Through depictions of universal themes such as grief, brotherhood, and ancestral ties, Friedlander establishes himself as a writer with an innate gift for capturing the human condition\u003c\/b\u003e * One Story *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land \u003c\/i\u003eurges us to pay attention to the human toll of war with sympathy and a great deal of heart\u003c\/b\u003e * October Hill Magazine *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBrilliant . . . Friedlander is a writer to watch\u003c\/b\u003e * The Reporter *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMasterful\u003c\/b\u003e * American Jewish World *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThese stories triumph for their finely tuned character portrayals and evocation of the complexities of life in Israel\u003c\/b\u003e * Jewish Boston *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMoving and dazzling \u003c\/b\u003e * Buzz *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTightly written, intimate portaits of lives lived in Israel . . . beautifully crafted tales\u003c\/b\u003e * Jewish News of Northern California *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eIsraeli literature has big names. Amos Oz and David Grossman . . . storytellers who penetrate deep into the psyche of their story's characters. Now a new promising young writer has emerged: Omer Friedlander.\u003c\/b\u003e * Friesch Dagblad (Netherlands) *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePowerful\u003c\/b\u003e * Tel Aviv Review of Books *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eElements of the near-fantastic and a comic darkness that at times recalls the work of Salman Rushdie . . . textual richness that situates Friedlander in the ranks of masters like Murakami . . . By turns bracingly elegiac and deeply, darkly funny, \u003ci\u003eThe Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land\u003c\/i\u003e is a stunning debut, and marks the arrival of a writer of serious gifts.\u003c\/b\u003e * Porter House Review *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn impressive literary voice . . . Friedlander's fierce imagination emerges to make its own surreal sense\u003c\/b\u003e * Jewish Renaissance *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eOmer Friedlander writes with the wisdom of a much older writer \u003c\/b\u003e * Church Times *\u003cbr\u003eFriedlander's humane explorations of love, friendship and the unending cost of conflict, against backdrops that range from orange groves in Jaffa to a check point in Gaza, are in turn funny, tender and achingly compassionate. * Jewish Telegraph *\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"John Murray Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47836766568791,"sku":"9781399803946","price":13.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781399803946.jpg?v=1710382359","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-man-who-sold-air-in-the-holy-land-9781399803946","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}