Author Aaron Zevy is back with another boisterous collection of short stories guaranteed to delight and entertain.
Zevy and his zany collection of friends and relatives from previous books return to act as the author's foils in his predicaments and self-deprecating stories. The author deftly conjures tall tales, perhaps based on reality — or not. The laugh-out-loud quality of his work makes fact or fiction irrelevant.
In three particularly inspired stories, the Angel of Death comes calling. An affable fellow fond of chess, he becomes a welcome visitor. "If I didn't know he was the Angel of Death," Zevy quips, "I would have guessed he was an assistant manager at Whole Foods." Soon, the Angel of Death returns, inquiring if Zevy plans to attend a wedding the following day. Zevy answers in the affirmative, to which the Angel replies, "You might want to take an Uber."
While many stories center on Zevy's dating woes, poker and golf games, always ending with a brief but hilarious punch line, his tour de force lies in wildly creative fictional stories such as The Pitch, in which Zevy has created Leviticus and Numbers, "the biggest pr/marketing" firm in all of 5th century Babylonia. The product? Hanukkah. Some gift-giving? Maybe a miracle? A winning marketing campaign is born!
Aside from his distinctive humor, Zevy's genius lies in his writing style. He quickly sets the scene, provides background and dives into the conflict. His writing has a staccato-like quality, with short sentences, often paragraphs themselves, moving the story quickly along and making reading a delight. Finally, he strikes with his characteristic punchline. Like a good comedian, he always delivers.
Zevy uses many Jewish themes, but his humor is universal. Despite the book's wry title, any book club group or reader who appreciates comedy in the form of a cleverly created short story, will welcome Zevy's formidable skills as a humorist and author.
Also available as an ebook.