What I Read: Suddenly, a Knock on the Door

     I am now officially only working one job, and it is seriously insane how much free time I feel like I have with an average, 40-hour a week work schedule. One thing that I'm stoked about is actually being able to sit down and read, a past-time that was lost amidst scrambling from one shift to the next. There is something seriously therapeutic about putting pajamas on, brewing a mug of your favorite tea, and crawling under the covers with a new book.  The book pictured above is my latest read, and one that I absolutely feel in love with.

     Suddenly, a Knock on the Door is a collection of short stories by Etgar Keret, an Israeli writer with a style all of his own. I first stumbled upon Mr. Keret's work in high school, after seeing the movie "Wristcutters: A Love Story" for the first time, which is a morbid, dark-humored rom-com-dram based on one of his stories. I ended up loving the collection of stories that "Wristcutters" was birthed from, but now nothing can compare to Suddenly, a Knock on the Door. These stories had me going through every possible human emotion, sometimes evoked from a mere two pages. They were riveting, humorous, haunting, and, in true Keret fashion, just slightly off-kilter. The book begins with a fictional account of the author being held hostage by a man who wants to hear a story. As he struggles to think up a plot under such pressure, Keret spits out the book's namesake, "Suddenly, there was a knock on the door...". This brings another disgruntled story-seeker to the scene as they realize he's narrating their own actions. From there, the stories are unrelated, but told in such beautiful order. The way Keret is able to make such deep connections between the reader and his characters within each story is something to be recognized; especially since none of the characters are used twice throughout the book. I couldn't put this one down; it was truly a pleasure to read from start to finish.

     This was a book that I didn't want to end. I found myself wishing that there was a story I had missed, that there was another one waiting for me even long after I had it completed. I will definitely be looking into more of Etgar Keret's work, as he has quickly become regarded as one of my favorite modern writers. Now I'm on to We Need to talk About Kevin  by Lionel Shriver. What books are your noses stuck in?

-Heather