The writers represented in this collection are not all Israelis; they include 19th-century and turn-of-the-century figures who were active in the Ukraine and in Russia. The bulk of the stories, however, are modern or contemporary, and most of them have an urban setting. Some of the names are familiar - Amos Oz, Yehuda Amichai, perhaps David Grossman; but many of them appear to be local Israeli reputations and no more. The slice-of-life story is much in evidence, so is a faintly surreal quality, and the humour tends to be either black or deadpan. There is no overall colouring or linking sense of identity, or even a strong sense of landscape or locale; modern Hebrew writing, like most writing everywhere today, seems to be largely eclectic and international.
B.F.