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Everything is Illuminated

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( 183,154 ratings, 9,006 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer blends humour and poignancy as it follows a young American man, also named Jonathan Safran Foer, on a journey to Ukraine to uncover his family's history and the woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis. He is accompanied by a quirky local guide, Alex, and his grandfather. As they travel through modern-day Ukraine, their adventures become a profound exploration of memory and the impact of the past on the present.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you enjoy powerful and inventive storytelling, blending history and personal discovery. It follows a young man's journey to uncover family secrets in Eastern Europe, offering a unique mix of humour and poignant moments with a distinct narrative style.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Everything is Illuminated is Jonathan Safran Foer's bestselling debut novel, published as a Penguin Essential for the first time.

A young man arrives in Ukraine, clutching in his hand a tattered photograph. He is searching for the woman who, fifty years ago, saved his grandfather from the Nazis.

Unfortunately, he is aided in his quest by Alex, a translator with an uncanny ability to mangle English into bizarre new forms; a "blind" old man haunted by memories of the war; and an undersexed guide dog named Sammy Davis Jr, Jr.

What they are looking for seems elusive—a truth hidden behind veils of time, language, and the horrors of war. What they find turns all their worlds upside down.

Series: Penguin Essentials

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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer has been praised for its inventive narrative and blending of humour with poignant themes. Reviewers often highlight Foer's compelling use of language and his ability to weave together a touching story about identity, history, and memory. Critics also appreciate the novel's unique structure and the memorable characters that drive the complex, layered storytelling.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241978894

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 04 August 2016

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 18.0mm

Width: 111.0mm

Height: 182.0mm

Weight: 161g

Pages: 288

About the Author

Jonathan Safran Foer is the author of Everything Is Illuminated, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Eating Animals and Here I Am. He has also edited a new modern edition of the sacred Jewish Haggadah. Everything Is Illuminated won several literary prizes, including the National Jewish Book Award and the Guardian First Book Award. He edited the anthology A Convergence of Birds- Original Fiction and Poetry Inspired by the Work of Joseph Cornell, and his stories have been published in the Paris Review, Conjunctions and the New Yorker. Jonathan Safran Foer teaches Creative Writing at New York University.

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  • Everything is Illuminated
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