Fly Already

Winner of the Sapir Prize 2019.

A man is bribed to step into a courtroom to call an unknown defendant a murderer. A rich, lonely man hits on the idea of buying up people's birthdays so he'll always have friends calling. A writer agrees to write a story starring his friend so said friend can get a girl into bed. A father and son spot a stranger standing on the edge of a building, and the son shouts encouragement - fly already!

In these 22 short stories, wild capers reveal painful emotional truths, and the bizarre is just another name for the familiar. Wickedly funny and thrillingly smart, Fly Already is a collage of absurdity, despair, and love, from a master of the genre.

'Brilliantly edgy, unsettling, Kafkaesque and often very funny.'
- Joyce Carol Oates

'Etgar Keret, the writer of absurd, sad, funny and very short stories, grows up ... These sardonic and very short fables are the next instalment in the series of strange scenarios cooked up in Keret's brain ... They are absurd stories your stoned friend might unfold while giggling, but the best of them land at some insight into the human condition, all economy and charm. This new collection, though, plumbs darker depths.'
- Gal Beckerman, The New York Times

'Keret at his best - tender and inventive, not giving too much away ... Keret shines when he's gentle and when he gives himself room to explore his characters ... 'Pineapple Crush' is a lovely, understated story about the human need for connection, and Keret approaches it subtly, portraying the narrator's loneliness without resorting to pity. He doesn't overplay his hand or feel the need to wax whimsical; he's content to consider the human condition in a compassionate, unshowy way. The story is nearly perfect.'
- Michael Schaub, NPR