Sometimes The Stories Are Smarter Than Me,

People In Israel Would Write In A High Register, They Wouldn't Write Colloquial Speech. I Do A Special Take On Colloquial Speech. When I Started Writing, I Thought [the Language] Was Telling The Story Of This Country: Old People In A Young Nation, Very Religious, Very Conservative, Very Tight-assed, But Also Very Anarchistic, Very Open-minded. It's All In The Language, And That's One Thing That Doesn't Translate.

I Have Always Thought That Heaven Is A Place For People Who Had Had A Good Life, But That Is Not True. God Is Merciful And Way Too Good To Make It So. The Heaven Is Just A Place For People Who Could Not Be Really Happy While Living On Earth. I Was Once Told That People Who Commit Suicide Are Taken Back On Earth To Repeat Life From The Very Beginning Because If They Did Not Like It Once, It Did Not Mean They Would Not Like It The Next Time. But Those Who Did Not Fit In On Earth At All, Ended Up Here. Everyone Comes To Heaven In Their Own Way.

I Remember A Point In [writing] The Story Where I Said, "this Isn't Working, I Should Go And Buy Something At The Supermarket Or My Wife Will Kill Me." Then I Said, "no, I'll Go On."

I Have To Admit That Talking Authoritatively About My Students' Stories Can Make Me Feel, At Times, Like An Astronaut Who Has Just Landed On A New Planet And Insists On Giving Guided Tours To Its Inhabitants.

Most Of Them Were Murderers. But When I Went There To Talk, They Were The Nicest People. I Did A Reading. I Said, "thank You," And Then They Said To Me, "could You Talk Some More?" And I Said, "why?" And They Answered, "most Of Us Are In Solitary Confinement, So The Moment You Finish Talking, They Take Us Back To Our Cells. We Like Hanging Out Here Together."