Be My Knife A Novel

When the awkward, neurotic and childlike Yair, a seller of rare books, sees a beautiful woman across the room at a class reunion he feels compelled to write to her. So begins a love affair of words between two married, middle-aged adults, dissatisfied with their lives, yearning for the connection that has always eluded them. "Be a knife for me," Yair writes to Miriam, "and I, I swear, will be a knife for you." As they peel back their inhibitions, their correspondence unfolds into an exchange of their most naked confessions in a novel that is as passionate as it is spellbinding. David Grossmanis the author of six novels and three works of nonfiction. He lives in Jerusalem. ANew York TimesNotable Book An awkward, neurotic seller of rare books writes a desperate letter to a beautiful stranger whom he sees at a class reunion. This simple, lonely attempt at seduction begins a love affair of words between Yair and Miriam, two married, middle-aged adults, dissatisfied with their lives, yearning for the connection that has always eluded themand, eventually, reawakened to feelings that they thought had passed them by. Their correspondence unfolds into an exchange of their most naked confessions: of desire, childhood tragedies, joys, and humiliations. "A transformative work of art . . . As the love affair moves toward its denouement certain passages demand to be reread, as if one can't believe the pure, intuitive truth they contain."The New York Times Book Review "A transformative work of art . . . As the love affair moves toward its denouement certain passages demand to be reread, as if one can't believe the pure, intuitive truth they contain."The New York Times Book Review "Be My Knifeis an absorbing, lyrical, intricately woven look at love that delves deeply into the emotions of its characters and artfully challenges narrative conventions . . . Well-crafted . . . Grossman is a master . . . This is a rich, original, beautifully painful exposition of the basic human condition."Catherine Newton,The Fort Worth Star-Telegram "Be My Knifemay be the strangest saddest love story ever told . . . exciting . . . exquisite [and] piercingly sad."Los Angeles Times Book Review "A brilliant concoction by an outstanding Israeli novelist."The New York Times "A tour de force . . . Difficult, provocative, disturbing . . . The novel raises serious questions. Can a person be truly honest with another, or is dishonesty intrinsic to the relations between men and women? Is honesty even possible, given the self-deception we all engage in? The book poses a Rashomon-like situationeach person seeing the story differently."Miriam Sawyer, Rutherford (New Jersey) Public Library,MultiCultural Review "A beautiful and searing book . . . Grossman's prose is bewitching . . . Be My Knife starts as a slow, lyrical work, then draws the reader into Yair and Miriam's compulsions. For Grossman, love is as an obsession, a consuming and searing mirage, where lovers reveal what is raw and painful."The Denver Post "Novelist and journalist David Grossman has claimed a place in the front ranks of contemporary Israeli writers with his lyrical yet penetrating explorations of his fellow countryman's psyches . . . Fans of Jeannette Winterson or Virginia Woolf may enjoy the novel's verbal artistry and its acute attention to the shifting psychological states of love."Time Out New York "A literary concoction for readers with strong stomachs and exquisite taste."Chicago Tribune "Be My Knifecasts a spell . . . by fearlessly exam

David Grossman is the author of seven novels, most recently Someone to Run With, as well as two groundbreaking works of journalism, The Yellow Wind and Sleeping on a Wire; several children’s books; and a play. He lives in Jerusalem.

“A transformative work of art...As the love affair moves toward its denouement certain passages demand to be reread, as if one can’t believe the pure, intuitive truth they contain.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Be My Knife may be the strangest, saddest love story ever told...exciting...exquisite [and] piercingly sad.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review

“A beautiful and searing book...Grossman’s prose is bewitching....Be My Knife starts as a slow, lyrical work, then draws the reader into Yair and Miriam’s compulsions. For Grossman, love is as an obsession, a consuming and searing mirage, where lovers reveal what is raw and painful.”—The Denver Post