BERKELEY ARTS & LETTERS: Nathan Englander / Kaddish.com

Berkeley Arts & Letters presents Pulitzer finalist Nathan Englander for his new novel, Kaddish.com. More information to come, but save the date and join us!

Please note: This event is ticketed, and will take place at Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St., Berkeley. Tickets, including discounted book bundles, are available in advance here. Unless otherwise noted here, general admission tickets will be available at the door.

Larry is an atheist in a family of orthodox Memphis Jews. When his father dies, it is his responsibility as the surviving son to recite the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, every day for eleven months. To the horror and dismay of his mother and sisters, Larry refuses – thus imperiling the fate of his father’s soul. To appease them, and in penance for failing to mourn his father correctly, he hatches an ingenious if cynical plan, hiring a stranger through a website called kaddish.com to recite the daily prayer and shepherd his fathers soul safely to rest.

This is Nathan Englander’s freshest and funniest work to date: a satire that touches, lightly and with unforgettable humor, on the conflict between religious and secular worlds, and the hypocrisies that run through both. A novel about atonement; about spiritual redemption; and about the soul-sickening temptations of the internet, which, like God, is everywhere.

Nathan Englander is the author of the novels Dinner at the Center of the Earth and The Ministry of Special Cases, and the story collections For the Relief of Unbearable Urges and What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, winner of the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His short fiction has been widely anthologized, most recently in 100 Years of the Best American Short Stories. His play The Twenty-Seventh Man premiered at The Public Theater in 2012. He also translated the New American Haggadah and co-translated Etgar Keret’s Suddenly a Knock on the Door. He is Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at New York University and lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and daughter.
 

Please note
– Duration of event is subject to author’s preference.

– Signing and additional details coming soon.

– This event is all ages. RSVP is appreciated but not necessary.

Accessibility is important to us! If you have special needs of any kind, please write events AT booksmith DOT com and we will do our best to accommodate you.

– If you cannot attend the event but would like to request a signed copy of Kaddish.com, and/or any of Nathan’s books, order below and put your request in the comments field.