books
CrocAttack / Almost Dead
2006
story
Eitan Enoch – ‘Croc’ to his friends – is taking his usual bus to work in Tel Aviv one morning when a fellow passenger starts to worry about the dark-skinned man with the suit-bag up at the front.
Thus begins a week of bloody bombings and bloodier reprisals, at the end of which Croc is transformed into an inadvertent national celebrity. He becomes ‘CrocAttack – the man the terrorists couldn’t kill’. Naturally, the Palestinian cell behind the attacks are less than happy about this reluctant symbol of Israeli defiance. They may not have been after him before, but they are now.
Meanwhile, in a hospital somewhere in Jerusalem, a young Palestinian suicide bomber lies in a coma, fighting for his life and trying to piece together how he got there – and just exactly what happened when he finally encountered the Croc.
Fast as a thriller, blackly funny and very contemporary, CrocAttack! is the story of the lethal convergence of two very different lives, and of a country exploding around them.
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reviews
"Shrewdly, rhythmically, and provocatively, Assaf Gavron connects the life stories of two men who share a fate: Israel…" Stern Magazine, Germany
"A lively but reflective novel, rich in bleak humour and sharp observations." The Guardian, UK
"Resigned and nuanced in its understanding of the absurdities of fate… brilliant book." The Los Angeles Times, USA
"Brutally honest and fearless, paints a vivid picture of the most insoluble conflict of our time with a master’s hand." The Globe and Mail, Canada
awards
Winner, Prix Courrier International,
France, 2012
Winner, Buch fuer die Stadt award,
Cologne, Germany, 2012
Shortlisted, ADEI-WIZO prize, Italy, 2010
Longlisted, Dayton Literary Peace Prize,
USA, 2011
Selected, Ten Favorite Books of the Year, The Los Angeles Times, USA, 2010
Read English Excerpt >>