What is ostensibly an English edition of a story about an Israeli spy turns, before it begins, into autobiography (or faux autobiography), a critique of trends in contemporary “literary” fiction, a consideration of the epistolary novel, and a short story interlude-and that’s just the first four chapters. Zink (or the first-person narrator who may or may not be the author) is undaunted by the fact that she can’t read Hebrew (the language in which Shats wrote his novel), and she gets going by questioning the very concept of translation. She responded by sending him her translation of his own novel-a chapter each day-during the month of December 1998. Here’s the idea: an admirer of Zink’s writing, Shats encouraged her to write a novel. There’s an explanatory (sort of) foreword by the aforementioned Shats, and something like an account of how this peculiar work came to be is proffered by the narrator. An obvious choice was Avner Shats’ recent debut, Sailing Toward the Sunset.” Thus begins Sailing Toward the Sunset by Avner Shats, which comprises the first half of this idiosyncratic (obviously) book.

“It having become apparent that I should write a novel, my next concern became which novel I should write. It flows with a narrative spin only the singular Zink could pull off - including both authentic and fictional versions of characters from Shats’s life and work such as the author herself.A fast-moving portrait of expat artists, authors, and academics on fellowships at the Villa Romana in Florence, European Story for Avner Shats centers on a trio of three indelible characters: an Israeli writer vaguely reminiscent of Shats, a German specialist in ancient lint, and a beautiful and fraudulent Russian performance artist.Demonstrating the hallmarks of Zink’s unique talent, Private Novelist is an intimate look into this acclaimed novelist’s early work that will please her coterie of admirers and further burnish her lustrous reputation.Early work by the acclaimed author of Nicotine (2016), Mislaid (2015), and Wallcreeper (2014). Now, this tongue-in-cheek homage is available to Nell’s growing readership for the first time, accompanied by a second dazzling and imaginative work that breathes - at Shats’s request - the perfumed air of the Old Europe and stars a figure very much like Shats.Sailing Towards the Sunset by Avner Shats is Zink’s faux-translation of Shats’s 1998 novel Lashut El Hashkia ('Sailing Towards the Sunset'). Unable to read his Hebrew, she was forced to start from scratch. Years ago, Nell Zink resolved to write a book for her friend, the Israeli novelist Avner Shats, that would mirror his remarkable style.

Private novelist nell zink