Israeli writer Etgar Keret has written two collections of short stories, both of which have been praised for their wit and imagination. Here he talks about his new collection, Missing Kissinger, a heady mix of the surreal, the violent and the compassionate.

> Clive James may have called your stories enchanting, but they’re pretty bloody disturbing as well – giant insects; a bullied Anteater family – and casually violent.

For me, stories are very close to dreams and when you dream, you may sometimes have nightmares. The fact that I write about disturbing experiences doesn’t mean that I like those kind of experiences, just that I fear them.

> Magic crops up several times in your new collection, not only in ‘Hat Trick’, but also in ‘Abram Cadambram’ and ‘Magicians School’. How come?

I think artists are very much like magicians. Fiction is always walking the thin line between touching a deep truth and telling a lie (the characters, after all, never truly exist). This is a bit the same with magicians, who can be seen either as those with the power to transcend the laws of nature or as manipulators and cheaters who fool their audiences.

I think that true magic and true art start the moment you stop controlling and understanding your actions. Until that point it is just a manipulation.

> Your male characters don’t have much luck with women. In this respect I am reminded of Dan Rhodes’ stories when I read yours. Do you like his writing?

I like his writing and like the writer too (I’ve read with him in the Edinburgh festival). He has an amazing wife, though, so I guess he is much luckier with women than his characters.

> And fathers tend to be weak and disappointed by life, while women and girlfriends are cruel or ruthless …

My father is real cool and my wife is very kind and empathic but when I write a father character, for example, it usually stands as a symbol for failed authority and has nothing to do with my real father.

> You tend to keep middle eastern politics out of your stories, and then – bam! – you give us ‘Cocked and Locked’, a shocking yet lucid summation of the deadlock. Is it hard to write originally about this unending conflict?

It is very tough to break the clichés of such a conflict. When a situation is so tragic and extreme it is very difficult to touch the true horror within it; usually you find yourself repeating known mantras which you’ve heard already for thousands of times.

The best way for me to break that is to throw a curveball, and to try and hit this harsh reality from an unexpected angle. This is the only way I know to create an authentic connection to something that has long became a rigid, often manipulated, symbol in our region.

> “I thought about life for a second. About how it spits right in your face.” Is life really that bad?

It is. The fact that life will end one day, without giving a fair warning or asking for permission, makes the entire process of living through it a stressful and fearful experience. Don’t get me wrong, I love life, it is just that I think that it is, many times, unfair.

> What is the status of the short story in Israel? Was it difficult for you to get published initially?

People in Israel, like almost anywhere else, prefer novels. In Israel there are hardly any magazines that publish short fiction and the publishing houses are very reluctant to publish short story collections, both local and translated.

I was very lucky to first come out in a very experimental imprint which wasn’t too concerned about sales. When the book started to sell well my editor was extremely surprised and the first thing he told me was that it will take a very long time before another author will come out with a collection which will reach a bestseller status. He was right, of course, and in the last 15 years no other writer has been able to break the 'short story collection bad book sales' curse.

> Which other Israeli writers should we read?

I like reading Yoel Hoffman, Yakov Shabtai, Amos Oz and Orly Castel Bloom.

> And which short story writers do you admire?

Kafka, Chekhov, Babel and Cheever.

> You make so much happen in such few words. Does the idea of writing longer stories appeal?

Yes. But I just don’t know how to write them.

> Finally, do you “like to sleep next to the wall or do you like to sleep next to the ones who’ll push you out of bed”?

It isn’t a question of liking it, it is just a question who you are. And I’m definitely the kind of guy who sleeps next to those who’ll push him out of bed.

Interview by James Smith (March 2007)

Missing Kissinger is published by Chatto & Windus
The Nimrod Flip-Out, Keret's first collection, is published by Vintage

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