Suddenly, A Knock On The Door by Etgar Keret

Suddenly, A Knock On The Door by Etgar Keret was crazy, crazy good, complete game changer! I've read a few of these stories before in different publications or anthologies and have always been blown away by his work. His stories are typically short, funny & whimsical. The first story I ever read of Etgar's that's included in this book is What, Of This Goldfish, Would You Wish and it was so good & different that I stopped reading, put the book down just to let it linger with me a while longer. Now that I think about it, the authors I've found in the last few years who I absolutely love, quite a few of them have a certain amount of fantasy in their work. The likes of Karen Russell, Steven Millhauser, Tea Obreht, Rebecca Makkai & Etgar Keret strike me as being linked by their originality, humor and refusal to stay within logical bounds. I'm a fairly positive person and when I read I'm drawn to stories like the ones in this book as they contrast sharply with all the sad, depressing fiction out there. Not to say I don't like sad stories, that walking alcoholic wet blanket Raymond Carver is ridiculously amazing for example, some of Lorrie Moore's best stories are crushingly sad and this book has some sad stories mixed in as well but overall the whimsicality set the tone of the book for me. One of the most endearing stories in the book was how the main character always keeps his pockets bulging with anything he thinks he might need not to blow his chance at love with any ordinary looking stranger who has such an enchanting smile that she takes your breath away.

For people who love audio books MacMillian has an audio version of the book available and the list of who reads is a true testament to Keret's genius. Stories are read by Ira Glass, Dave Eggers, Nicole Krauss, George Saunders, Miranda July, Stanley Tucci, Michael Chabon, Rick Moody, Nathan Englander and more. I'm just an opinionated readers but good lord that's a list of who's effin awesome at reading if I've ever seen one! It's available directly from MacMillian for a good price here (intelligently, no one's offered me any money to post the link);

http://us.macmillan.com/book.aspx?isbn=9781427226945

Etgar's magic holds no bounds and in my opinion should be considered one of the masters of his craft.