Publications | Jessica Cohen

Current Projects:

Yoram Eshet-Alkalai, A Man Walks Home

A moving memoir of the author’s devastating experience in the Yom Kippur War (1973) and his remarkable rehabilitation journey. (Translation of the Hebrew אדם הולך הביתה from 2010.)

Rutu Modan, Day of the Dead [working title]

A graphic novel about the experiences of a young Israeli woman who takes an ill-conceived trip to Poland with her grandmother and uncovers some family secrets. (Forthcoming in 2013 from Drawn & Quarterly.)

Books:

David Grossman, To the End of the Land (Knopf, 2010)

David Grossman’s sweeping yet intimate novel about a mother’s love for her son, and her harrowing experience while he serves in a military operation. Hailed as a masterpiece of Hebrew literature, this outstanding novel is featured on multiple “best of 2010″ lists. (Translation of the Hebrew אשה בורחת מבשורה from 2008.)

Yael Hedaya, Eden (Metropolitan Books, 2010)

Yael Hedaya was a lead writer of the Israeli television series “Be-Tipul,” which served as the basis for HBO’s “In Treatment.” Her second novel delves into the lives of five residents of an Israeli moshav. (Translation of the Hebrew עדן from 2005.)

DavidGrossman, Writing in the Dark: Essays on Literature and Politics (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2008)

A collection of essays and talks in which David Grossman considers his evolution as a writer, why and how he writes, and his views on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the toll it takes on both peoples.

Amir Gutfreund, The World a Moment Later (The Toby Press, 2008)

An epic novel that traces imaginary and real events surrounding the establishment of the State of Israel. Gutfreund employs dark humor and creates memorably tragicomic characters. (Translation of the Hebrew העולם, קצת אחר כך from 2005.)

Tom Segev, 1967: Israel, the War, and the Year that Transformed the Middle East (Metropolitan Books, 2007)

Acclaimed historian Segev gives a detailed account and a fascinating analysis of the events leading up to Israel’s Six-Day War. (Translation of the Hebrew 1967: והארץ שינתה את פניה from 2005.)

Amir Gutfreund, Our Holocaust (The Toby Press, 2006)

Gutfreund’s debut novel introduced readers to his bleak sense of humor and wonderfully crafted characters. Two children try to make sense of the Holocaust in this extremely original take on one of Israeli society’s formative experiences. (Translation of the Hebrew שואה שלנו from 2000.)

Yael Hedaya, Accidents (Metropolitan Books, 2005)

Hedaya’s debut novel centers around two writers in 1990′s Tel Aviv, as they contend with love and loss, parenthood, and their own aging parents. Hedaya’s insights into the domestic details of these contemporary urban characters is unparalleled in Hebrew literature. (Translation of the Hebrew תאונות from 2001.)

David Grossman, Her Body Knows (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2003)

Two intense novellas narrated in almost claustrophobic prose, exploring jealousy and destructive relationships. (Translation of the Hebrew בגוף אני מבינה from 2002.)

Ronit Matalon, Bliss (Metropolitan Books, 2003)

The tense friendship between two women is at the center of this extraordinary novel, told against the backdrop of the First Intifada. (Translation of the Hebrew שרה, שרה from 2000.)