Meir Shalev

In The Thing About It (original title: Hadavar Haya Kakha, 2009), a central role is reserved for the vacuum cleaner and the cleaning obsession of Meir Shalev’s grandmother. The vacuum cleaner (“svieper”) is the true protagonist of the novel — not only because of the circumstances surrounding its unexpected arrival from America (a gift from a brother-in-law intended as a provocation), but also because of its profound effect on the story and its characters. Using the vacuum cleaner as his starting point, Shalev portrays his family and its history with great affection, understanding, and at times admiration. The Thing About It is also the story of a family that loves words and good storytelling. The result is a witty and moving novel about the Shalev family.

Meir Shalev (1948, Israel) lives and works in Jerusalem and is regarded as one of the major writers of modern Israeli literature. He is also a columnist for the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot. His work has been published in more than twenty countries. After his debut novel The Blue Mountain (Russian Novel in Dutch translation, 1989), he achieved his breakthrough in the Netherlands in 1994 with The Four Meals.

Other works by Shalev include Esau, The Large Woman, Fontanelle, and A Pigeon and a Boy (2006), for which he received the prestigious Brenner Prize, Israel’s highest literary honour. In addition to novels, he has written essay collections and children’s books.

“This is probably one of the most enjoyable books ever written about obsessive-compulsive disorder.” (Haaretz)

“Meir Shalev is a master storyteller whose magical realism is similar to the art of Gabriel García Márquez.” – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung