David Grossman

This page is about the Israeli author. For the television director, see David Grossman (director).

David Grossman (Hebrew: דויד גרוסמן; born 25 January 1954 in Jerusalem) is an Israeli author of fiction, nonfiction, and youth and children's literature, whose books have been translated into numerous languages. The Yellow Wind, his incisive nonfiction work on the Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, met with acclaim abroad and sparked dialogue and controversy at home.

Grossman studied Philosophy and Theater at Hebrew University. He worked as a correspondent and radio actor for Kol Israel, Israel's state radio service. He was one of the presenters of Cat in a Sack, a children's program that was broadcast from 1970 to 1984, on which his book, Duel, was first aired as a radio drama. Along with Dani Eldar, he ran the popular absurdist radio series, Stutz (Yiddish: "that can happen"). In 1984, Grossman won the Prime Minister's Prize for Creative Work.

Grossman supported Israel during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, However, on August 10, 2006, he and fellow authors Amos Oz and A.B. Yehoshua spoke at a press conference calling upon the government to agree to a ceasefire as a basis for talks toward a negotiated solution, describing further military action as "dangerous and counterproductive" and expressing particular concern for the Lebanese government.

Two days later, his 20-year-old son Uri, a staff sergeant in an armoured unit, was killed by an anti-tank missile during an IDF operation in southern Lebanon aimed at maximizing gains against Hezbollah guerrillas shortly before the ceasefire brokered by the U.N. Security Council was to take effect. [1]

On February 2, 2007, he was awarded the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.

Grossman lives in Mevasseret Zion near Jerusalem. He is married and the father of three children, Yonatan, 24, Ruth, 14, and the late Uri.

Fiction works in English translation

The Smile of the Lamb [חיוך הגדי / Hiyukh ha-gedi: roman, 1983]. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1990, ISBN 0-374-26639-5
See Under: Love [עיין ערך: אהבה / Ayen erekh—-ahavah: roman, 1986]. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1989, ISBN 0-374-25731-0
The Book of Intimate Grammar [ספר הדקדוק הפנימי / Sefer ha-dikduk ha-penimi: roman, 1991]. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1994, ISBN 0-374-11547-8
The Zigzag Kid [יש ילדים זיג זג / Yesh yeladim zigzag, 1994]. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1997, ISBN 0-374-52563-3
Be My Knife [שתהיי לי הסכין / She-tihyi li ha-sakin, 1998]. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2001, ISBN 0-374-29977-3
Someone to Run With [מישהו לרוץ איתו / Mishehu laruts ito, 2000]. London: Bloomsbury, 2003, ISBN 0-7475-6207-5
Her Body Knows: two novellas [בגוף אני מבינה / Ba-guf ani mevinah: tsemed novelot, 2003]. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2005, ISBN 0-374-17557-8

Nonfiction works in English translation

The Yellow Wind [הזמן הצהוב / Ha-Zeman ha-tsahov, 1987]. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1988, ISBN 0-374-29345-7
Sleeping on a Wire: Conversations with Palestinians in Israel [נוכחים נפקדים / Nokhehim Nifkadim, 1992]. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1993, ISBN 0-374-17788-0
Death as a Way of Life: Israel Ten Years after Oslo [מוות כדרך חיים / Mavet ke-derech khayyim, 2003]. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2003, ISBN 0-374-10211-2
Lion’s honey : the myth of Samson [דבש אריות / Dvash arayiot, 2005]. Edinburgh; New York: Canongate, 2006, ISBN 1-84195-656-2

Youth literature in English translation

Duel [דו קרב / Du-krav, 1982]. London: Bloomsbury, 1998, ISBN 0-7475-4092-6

References

Institute for Translation of Hebrew Literature, David Grossman (bibliography with brief biography). Retrieved January 12, 2005.
דויד גרוסמן (David Grossman) from the Hebrew-language Wikipedia. Retrieved January 12, 2005.
חתול בשק (Cat in a Sack) from the Hebrew-language Wikipedia. Retrieved January 12, 2005.
Eli ESHED, "Is Naava Home? Naava's Not Home" נאווה בבית? נאווה לא בבית (In Hebrew). Retrieved January 12, 2005.
Grossman's important speech at the Rabin Memorial November 4, 2006 [2] Retrieved November 20, 2006.