GUTFREUND, Amir << back to list Amir Gutfreund was born in Haifa in 1963. After studying applied mathematics at the Technion where he received a MSc., he joined the Israeli Air Force where he worked in the field of mathematical research. The author is the recipient of the Buchman Prize by Yad Vashem (2002) and the recipient of the Sapir Prize 2003 for his collection of short stories THE SHORELINE MANSIONS. His latest novel WHEN HEROES FLY is bestseller since publication in 2008. Bibliography & Foreign sales THE WORLD, A LITTLE LATER (Fiction) 2005 The journalist Leon Abromovitz had no intention of immigrating to Israel. However, in the year 1922, four years after he has been sent from chilly Europe to report about the lives of the pioneers in Palestine, he learns that the editor who sent him on this mission ran off with half the newspaper’s money and Abromovitz has been forgotten in the promised wasteland. And so begins the wonderful tale of THE WORLD, A LITTLE LATER. It recounts the story of Abromovitz and his two sons, one of whom stays behind in Europe and the other, Chaim, who follows his father to Israel. Rights sold to: World English language rights, Toby Press; Israel, Kinneret Zmora Bitan Reviews ”In this book, a lot of disappointed dreamers discover what one cannot find in the pages of history: the pains, errors, missed chances, broken hearts and tragedies of the little people who built the country but had no street named after them. With this book, Amir Gutfreund has, within three years of his appearance on the Israeli literary scene, become a beloved writer with a large following.” Yediot Ahronot “The new and inventive novel by Guttfreund has turned into an immediate cult read....We all read A HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE and long thought we deserve out very own Maconda. Well, here we have it!” Ariana Melamed, Y-NET OUR HOLOCAUST (Fiction) 2000 This stirring narrative offers a view into the dramatic lives of a group of Holocaust survivors who all live on one imaginary street in a suburb in Haifa. A conspiracy of silence, imposed by the patriarch of this strange tribe, prevents the child protagonists, a boy and a girl, from discovering what really happened “over there”. They will not succumb to these restrictions, of course, and their efforts to solve the mystery of the past take unexpected turns. Rights sold to: World English language rights: The Toby Press; Germany, Berlin Verlag; Holland, Rothschild & Bach; France, Gallimard; Spain, El Anden (reverted); Israel, Kinneret, Zmora Bitan Reviews “Amir Gutfreund wrote a wonderful book. He has a keen eye for observation, elegance of language and a captivating sense of humor. I can’t wait for his next book!” Meir Shalev “Amir Gutfreund has written a remarkable book ...His first novel is an impressive achievement as a literary creation and in its dealing – without cliches and condescension ...well-written in an elegant and rich style, the book displays much sensibility to the spoken Hebrew of different Israelis, as well as psychological and social insights, black humor and a rare ability to tell a story. I read this book in one sitting; it opened new windows to me, in which familiar landscapes were drawn by an artist’s hand.” Ha’aretz Book Review Supplement “...beautifully communicative...sensitive to the Yiddish language (as with Grossman)... Our Holocaust marks a new direction in (Hebrew) literature... Gutfreund breaks through the barriers of conventional plot, uses the treasures of Jewish languages and medieval literature, and dares to touch upon “big” issues. He writes from the depths, yet it is intellectual writing, which offers ways to examine reality in a way only artistic fiction may present.” Eretz Aheret Magazine “Gutfreund knows how to draw characters. His love for these strange figures who drift eerily through the novel, creates this special quality.” Frankfurter Rundschau “Our Holocaust is the opposite of historical remembrance or state-ordered mourning. Gutfreund writes with humor and respect as well as sensitivity and fascination for the absurd, expressive detail evident in every sentence.” Neue Zuricher Zeitung “Gutfreund relates the difficult relations between Holocaust survivors and those born subsequently to the Holocaust with an unusual feel for detail, intelligent humor and stylistic brilliance.” Literatur-Report “Gutfreund writes with a love of detail and intelligent humor --- a beautiful read.” Vorwaerts THE SHORELINE MANSIONS (Short Stories) 2002 Awarded THE SAPIR PRIZE FOR LITERATURE 2003, this collection of short stories travels between chateaux in French villages to the attics of Tel Aviv. Rights sold to: English language rights: The Toby Press; Israel: Kinneret, Zmora Bitan Reviews “The most promising voice in Israeli literature does it again!” Arianna Melamed, YNET “Gutfreund is not one of the most important young writers of the decade. He is the simply the best.” Miri Paz, Globes “A multiple pleasure. An astonishing combination of mysticism and mathematics and a rare human spirit that one does not read every day, or even every year.” Ran Ben Nun, Yediot Achronot.