A review by willande123
The Nimrod Flipout by Etgar Keret, Institute for Translation of Hebrew Literature
5.0
If you've been friends with me on Goodreads for long enough, you know that I obsess over the sheer hilarity and flippant style of Israeli writer Etgar Keret. Despite suffering from what may be the most bizarre cover art in the history of literature (please challenge me on this), The Nimrod Flipout is an excellent short story collection full of reality-bending romps.
The title story will be familiar to experienced Keret readers: a bunch of young-ish guys stuck in the doldrums of life, and you don't expect much at the start. But as the story progresses and more is revealed, the makings of a superb short story appear. Few writers can continually hold my attention hostage for such prolonged periods of time, but Keret's zany plots, his questionable characters, and devastating critiques of morality always draw me in. His tone and irreverence are only matched by George Saunders and Kurt Vonnegut.
Short story collections are often a jumbled mess, with some stories lacking inspiration and others wowing the reader, but for once the back cover doesn't lie; Keret really does pack more into a paragraph than many writers do in an entire book. I know that for years to come, I'll continue to pick up Keret's stories and laugh my way through. If you need a pick-me-up, pick Keret up.
Favorite stories:
The Nimrod Flipout: for its dark humor
Your Man: for its exploration of the young male condition
Pride and Joy: for its praise of dutifulness
Glittery Eyes: for its hypocrisy
For Only $9.88 (Inc. Tax and Postage): for its deconstruction of modern "self-help" books (This is favorite story in the collection and one of my favorite Keret stories.)
My Girlfriend's Naked: for its quasi-feminism
Ironclad Rules: for its squirm-inducing ending
The title story will be familiar to experienced Keret readers: a bunch of young-ish guys stuck in the doldrums of life, and you don't expect much at the start. But as the story progresses and more is revealed, the makings of a superb short story appear. Few writers can continually hold my attention hostage for such prolonged periods of time, but Keret's zany plots, his questionable characters, and devastating critiques of morality always draw me in. His tone and irreverence are only matched by George Saunders and Kurt Vonnegut.
Short story collections are often a jumbled mess, with some stories lacking inspiration and others wowing the reader, but for once the back cover doesn't lie; Keret really does pack more into a paragraph than many writers do in an entire book. I know that for years to come, I'll continue to pick up Keret's stories and laugh my way through. If you need a pick-me-up, pick Keret up.
Favorite stories:
The Nimrod Flipout: for its dark humor
Your Man: for its exploration of the young male condition
Pride and Joy: for its praise of dutifulness
Glittery Eyes: for its hypocrisy
For Only $9.88 (Inc. Tax and Postage): for its deconstruction of modern "self-help" books (This is favorite story in the collection and one of my favorite Keret stories.)
My Girlfriend's Naked: for its quasi-feminism
Ironclad Rules: for its squirm-inducing ending