Who is your favorite writer of all time?
Franz Kafka. I discovered his writing during my compulsory army service in the Israeli Army. I found “Metamorphosis and Other Stories” on a weekend in which I was confined to my army base. As someone who was seen by himself and by his commanders as the worst soldier in the history of the I.D.F., it was a great comfort to discover a writer who seemed to be even more stressed and screwed up than I was. Kafka’s work has remained a great source of inspiration for me as a writer, but even more so as a human being who is struggling to hang on to his empathy even at times when it is treated by others like an unnecessary luxury.
- Etgar Keret
descensus Averno facilis est