Brief, intense, painful­ly fun­ny, and shock­ing­ly hon­est, Etgar Keret’s sto­ries are snap­shots that illu­mi­nate with intel­li­gence and wit the hid­den truths of life. As with the best writ­ers of fic­tion, hilar­i­ty and anguish are the twin pil­lars of his work. Keret cov­ers a remark­able emo­tion­al and nar­ra­tive ter­rain — from a father’s first les­son to his boy to a stand­off between sol­diers caught up in the Mid­dle East con­flict to a slice of life where noth­ing much happens.

New to Riverhead’s list, these wild­ly inven­tive, unique­ly humane sto­ries are for fans of Etgar Keret’s inim­itable style and read­ers of trans­form­ing, bril­liant fiction.