The Same Sea

From the internationally acclaimed Israeli author, a unique novel
in verse that will take its place among the great books of our time.

The Same Sea is Amos Oz's most adventurous and inventive novel, the book by which he would like to be remembered. This is Oz free of convention--literary and otherwise. Prose leads to poetry, poetry to prose. The cast of characters ranges from a prodigal son to a widowed father who has taken in his son's enticing young girlfriend, who in turn sleeps with her boyfriend's close friend. The author himself receives phone calls from his characters, criticizing the way he portrays them in his novel. In this human profusion there is chaos and order, love and eroticism, loyalty and betrayal, and ultimately an extraordinary energy.

Reminiscent of Under Milk Wood for the range of its voices, its earthy humor, and its poignancy, The Same Sea is heartbreaking and sensuous, filled with classical echoes and Biblical allusions. Oz at his very best.

"I wrote this book with everything I have. Language music, structure everything that I have. . . . This is the closest book I've written. Close to me, close to what I always wanted. . . . I went as far as I could. --Amos Oz