Bringing humanity to the news: a stunning collection of short stories exploring the experience of being alive in the Middle East - now available in paperback. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has shaped the consciousness of a generation - but never before has it been brought to life in such vivid and telling prose. Part Tim O'Brien, part Bernard Malamud, "Talking to the Enemy" ranges from boisterously entertaining tales of domestic squabbles to dark narratives from disillusioned soldiers. Awarded the Jewish Book Award on its first publication in Canada and since supplemented with recent stories, Mandelman's collection is a tour de force of humanising brilliance. In "Pity", the reader is drawn slowly through the descending layers of horror experienced by an Israeli soldier who is party to an assassination attempt gone horribly wrong. "Terror" finds a man recalling a traumatic childhood incident that taught him to place his family before justice or fear. "Mish Mash" sets off a comic tornado when a winning lottery ticket is discovered in a less-than-conventional family.
Underneath their often brash exteriors, Mandelman's characters search for reconciliation and fulfilment in a land where conflict is a part of everyday life.