The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God: And Other Stories

It is rare that I can read a book and tell immediately that it was originally written in another language. This book is a selection of short stories, and at face value, are pretty good. But some of them are just "off" and I attribute that to the translation. With that said, 2 stories are gems: Bus Drive who wanted to be God is wonderful. And the very last story was turned into an incredible overlooked gem "Wrist cutters: a Love Story". The written story bears little resemblance to how fantastic the movie was. Once again...it failed to translate.

Etgar Keret's story "The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God" illustrates John Gall's dictum, "Any problem complicated enough to require cost-benefit analysis is usually too ambiguous to benefit from cost-benefit analysis." It should be required reading for all economists trying to quantify risk and cost.

A writer this original deserves an adjective of his own, for Keret's style is indeed unique. A true sign of literary genius, for me, is unpredictability. Every sentence in Keret's writing comes as a surprise -- and yet, at the same time, could not have been anything else. Keret deserves the attention he is finally receiving outside Israel.

Yes, that is what I can liken this book to. It is certainly a lesson to my genertaion. I found it thrilling as it bridged the generation gap for me. Masterly drawings with words, with minimum of strokes! Like a Picasso of litearture. Bitter, for some of it is about the dark side of the moon, sweet, because the feeling you leave each little gem with is that though it is hard, bitter and sad, life is good despite of it or even because of it. I have no doubt that Keret will survive for generations on book shelves and in readers hearts and minds.

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.

The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God by Etgar Keret is a real fun book with substance created by the author's own unique style. He captures his readers attention immediately with his original style and talent . Brilliant plots, captivating characters, biting yet very precise images unfold a real innovative creativity.