Katschen & The Book of Joseph

by Yoel Hoffmann, David Kriss (Translator), Alan Treister (Translator)

"These two quietly stunning novellas mark the American debut of a writer of international importance."― Publishers Weekly In kaleidoscopic fragments, Hoffmann refracts Jewish popular lore and folk wisdom through a postmodernist prism, brightening his prose with snatches of verse, songs, diary excerpts, letters, ominous dreams, lush erotic passages and Yiddish sayings. "The Book of Joseph" tells the tragic story of a widowed Jewish tailor and his son in 1930s Berlin. "Katschen" gives an astounding child's-eye view of a boy orphaned in the new state of Israel. The novellas radiate the original poetry of Hoffmann's atomized hypnotic language, which Rosmarie Waldrop has called "utterly enchanting―it's like nothing else."

Genres: Short Stories, Israel, Fiction, Jewish

162 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Yoel Hoffmann (23 June 1937– 25 August 2023) was an Israeli Jewish contemporary author, editor, scholar and translator.

Reviews

[Jared Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Before my eyes," said Ernst suddenly, "there is glass and a bird pecking at it all the time."

[Miki Herscovici · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was nothing short of amazing. One of the best things I have ever read. It is so genre defying and different, that I'm at a loss as to how to label it. Better not label it at all, just read it.

[Yonatan · Rating 2 out of 5]

First story is good. Second is not.

[Arlo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The goodreads description does it justice, probably will rate higher on a future re read

[Neta Asher Goshen · Rating 2 out of 5]

קצכן-5
כל השאר-2

[Un Moine Vexé]

Delightful and disturbing in equal measure.