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In our second installment, host Marcela Sulak reads an essay from Etgar Keret’s memoir, The Seven Good Years, called “Bombs Away.” We hear how Keret and his wife Shira Gefen cope after receiving “inside” reports about an imminent Iranian nuclear attack on Israel.

“Gradually my wife also began to realize the advantages of our shabby existence. After she found a not-exactly-reliable news site warning that Iran might already have nuclear weapons, she decided it was time to stop washing dishes. “There’s nothing more frustrating than getting nuked while you’re putting the soap in the dishwasher,” she explained. “From now on, we only wash the dishes on an immediate-need basis.””

Hear how this attitude escalates in much the same way as the panic surrounding the Iranian nukes.

Listen to Part I of our dip into Keret’s memoir, in which Marcela reads the opening essay – Keret’s son is born on the day of a terror attack.

Text:
The Seven Good Years. Translated by Sondra Silverston, Miriam Shlesinger, Jessica Cohen, and Anthony Berris. New York: Riverhead Books, 2015.

Further reading:
Suddenly, a Knock on the Door
The Girl on the Fridge
Missing Kissinger
The Nimrod Flipout
The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God & Other Stories

Music:
Eran Tzur – Bachutz (lyrics by Etgar Keret)
Shlomi Shaban and Etgar Keret perform at Tel Aviv’s Pecha Kucha festival

Producer: Laragh Widdess
Technical producer: Alex Benish