Payback: Stories

In Payback, renowned Israeli author and poet Elisha Porat stares into the eyes of men and women united by the turmoil of the 1982 War of South Lebanon. Skipping from on-the-line realism to the tender grief of a son rediscovering his father even as he struggles with the ghosts of friends that war dictated would be left behind, it is not battle that unites these stories, but the hope of peace.

These are the tales of those who have no right to dream but do. One man returns home to find that he can reclaim his love in body but not in soul. Comrades not permitted the choice between home and service to their country rebel in thought and deed. Faced with the impossibility of regaining what was, Porat's characters strike out on spiritual journeys that canvas the darkness and brilliance of their own inner spaces. A book of subtle and stirring beauty, Payback inscribes the memories of those Porat himself lost on the consciousness of the reader while also placing them in the context of a vibrant culture's broken generations.

Without passing judgment on his characters, Elisha Porat has succeeded in bringing to life Everymen who would be recognized as easily on the streets of Los Angeles as they would in Jerusalem. The fact of his nationality is secondary to the universality of his stories, yet Payback retains an innate sense of self. Crackling with intelligent detail and simple strength, this new collection offers yet more proof that Elisha Porat has earned his place in the ranks of the world's greatest storytellers.