New York 1, Tel Aviv 0
Stories
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Enter the world of New York 1, Tel Aviv 0, where the characters are as intelligent and charming as they are lonely. A couple discovers the ability to stop time together; another couple lives with a constant loud beeping in their apartment, though only one of them can hear it. A father leaves his daughter in Israel to pursue a painting career in New York; a sex worker falls in love with the Israeli photographer who studies her.
Together these stories explore the tension between an anonymous, globalized world and an irrepressible lust for connection—they form an intimate document of niche moments between characters who are so brilliantly, subtly, and magically rendered by Shelly Oria's capable hands.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Out of the 18 short stories in Oria's debut collection, the narrator from "The Thing About Sophia" best sums up the theme that runs through them all. Technically describing Saturday brunch mimosas, she says, "What happens when you get buzzed but you're already a little bit buzzed from the night before is that you feel free." Many of Oria's characters share a similar sensibility, feeling a liberation the reader comes to know is artificial and limited, because, as Sophia's unnamed roommate-with-benefits knows, "there's no such thing as forever." While Oria has an inventive voice, the stories often feel as if they are to be spoken or performed rather than read. "Documentation" is structured by numbered kisses; "That Night" is also numbered, though by recollections. A telltale MFA workshop sensibility pervades the collection and, unfortunately, as a whole, these stories of sexual escapades and the boundaries of lust become repetitive, even though any of them might be more intriguing on its own. One of the most promising moments comes in the title story, when a character on life in Tel Aviv and New York: "people in Israel treat suicide bombings and bombings in general the flu." This is the sort of substantive passage that doesn't quite overcome the overtly quirky style, but still feel meaningful and genuine.
