For fans of Etgar Keret, a debut collection that fuses the humor of everyday life in Israel with technology's challenges and the latest discoveries about the human brain.
At once compassionate, philosophical, and humorous, Jerusalem Beach is a foray into the human condition in all its contradictions. Through a series of snapshots of contemporary life in Israel, Gefen reveals a world that's a step from the familiar.
A man's grandfather joins an army platoon of geriatrics looking for purpose in old age. A scheming tech start-up exposes the dire consequences of ambition in trying to share human memories. An elderly couple searches for a beach that doesn't exist. And, a boy mourns his brother's death in an attempt to catch time like flies in his fist.
Entirely heartfelt and infused with pathos, Jerusalem Beach is an exploration of both technology and the brain. Whether ruminating on the stakes of familial love or pitching the reader headlong into the absurdity of success and failure, Gefen leaves the listener intrigued throughout.
Contains mature themes.
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“Gefen’s excellent debut collection…seem to contain the deep emotional complexities of entire novels…Gefen proves adept at taking readers into very dark places while offering quiet notes of compassion and consolation.”
— Jewish Book Council
“This vigorous, inventive work will surely fire up readers’ neurons."
— Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)Be the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Iddo Gefen is the author of Jerusalem Beach: Stories, his debut collection, which won the Sami Rorh Prize and the Israeli Minister of Culture Award. He won the National Library of Israel "Pardes" Scholarship for young writers. He was born in 1992 in Israel and works in neurocognitive research at the the Immersive Media & Cognition Group in Sagol Brain Institute, Sourasky Medical Center, and at Tel Aviv University, exploring how storytelling can improve our understanding of the human mind. He leads an innovative study to diagnose aspects of Parkinson's disease using storytelling and augmented reality. He resides in Tel Aviv.
Steven Jay Cohen has been telling stories his whole life, and has worked professionally as a storyteller since 1991. A classically trained actor, he has worked both on stage and behind the microphone for most of his career. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Steven now resides in scenic western Massachusetts.