There Is No Other - Softcover

Jon Papernick

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1550961381 ISBN 13: 9781550961386

Publisher: Exile Editions, 2010

Synopsis

From the streets of modern Israel to the barrooms of Brooklyn to a suburban New England synagogue, the characters in these nine stories search for love and acceptance in a world scarred by loss and loneliness. In "The Madonna of Temple Beth Elohim," an Iraq war veteran sees a vision of the Virgin Mary on the eve of the Jewish high holidays. In "My Darling Sweetheart Baby," a working-class drunk waits on his stoop for his disability check and the courage to proclaim his love to a local prostitute. And in the title story "There Is No Other," a rage-filled Jewish boy, tormented by his African lineage, arrives at a school Purim party dressed as the prophet Mohammed. Magical, erotic, spiritually penetrating and terrifyingly realistic, these provocative tales continue the storytelling tradition of Bernard Malamud, Philip Roth, and Nathan Englander.

• "It would be enough to say that Jonathan Papernick is an utterly original writer--one who doesn't rely on gimmicks, but rather on amazingly real characters and consistently page-turning plots. But There Is No Other  is even better than that: every single story here delivers a knockout punch that will leave you reeling--and revising your thinking on what life and love really mean."     

--Dara Horn, author of In the Image, The World to Come and All Other Nights

About this title

From the Author

Why I Write Short Stories 
 
      You might wonder why I choose to write short stories when the market demands novels, and blockbuster ones at that. I could give you the glib answer, paraphrasing Flannery O'Connor and say I write short stories because I'm good at it. But that wouldn't really get to the heart of why I really write short stories. Writing a short story for me is really more of a conversation, an internal dialogue engaging with issues of religion and faith. Much of my religious education comes from the writing of my stories as I try to figure out the answers to my questions. such as: what would happen if a billionaire real estate developer try to achieve tikkun olam by bringing baseball to the Israelis and Palestinians? What would happen if a young kibbutznik remained pregnant for 18 years? What if two owners of rival Jerusalem falafel stands got into an apocalyptic feud?
      I write short stories not simply because they're short, but because they are complete slices of life in a short space, compressing and expanding the world at the exact same time so that the reader feels that she has experienced something meaningful in 15 pages rather than 300. Many people have lamented the death of the short story, but I truly believe that the short story is poised for a renaissance, as people who find they have less and less time for leisure reading can sneak off for 10 or 15 minutes and read a great short story that will make her feel as full as if she had just read an entire novel.
      When I write, I feel as if an ancient bearded rabbi saunters out and whispers his secrets in my ear. I don't mean that in a mystical way, but in a sense I guess I do, since writing is a supreme act of  faith, a combination of meditation and prayer: a let there be act of creation.  --Jonathan Papernick May, 2010

From the Back Cover

"Papernick joins a handful of young writers such as Nathan Englander, Dara Horn and Jonathan Safran Foer who have been steadily redefining not only the range but also the very substance of contemporary Jewish writing." --- HADASSAH MAGAZINE"Papernick writes with tremendous passion about the downside of love, sex, and faith. The characters in this fearless collection are lovely and desperate... unforgettably stung by the world of their own disappointments." --- STEVE ALMOND, author of My Life in Heavy Metal and Candyfreak"Papernick knows how to get out of the way and let his characters take over; just as importantly, he knows how to watch. And he knows how to write it all down in a uniquely compelling way. Every story deepens our understanding of humanity and leaves us just a little bit smarter." --- MICHAEL WEX, best-selling author of Born to Kvetch and Just Say Nu"There is a muscular certainty to the best of Papernick's stories that is altogether harrowing... Papernick's penetrating, clear-sighted stories ring true." --- THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

About this edition

• Publisher: Exile Editions
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1550961381
• ISBN 13: 9781550961386
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192