Yoram Kaniuk has been praised at home and abroad as, in the words of American reviewer Joshua Henkin, "one of Israel's pre-eminent novelists" (The New York Times, 4 June 1989). Kaniuk was born in Tel Aviv on 2 May 1930, one of a generation of Hebrew writers who came of age at the time Israel achieved statehood in 1948. This generation of self-reliant Sabras, groomed to reverse two thousand years of Jewish exile and victimization, was conflicted both about the Holocaust and about sacrifices made for the State of Israel--a constant theme in Kaniuk's work. He writes in a variety of genres and forums, including not only fiction but also poetry, children's books, journalism, creative nonfiction, memoirs, and motion pictures. The quality and breadth of his writings have been recognized with such international awards as the Prix de Droits de l'Homme (1997) and the Prix Mediterranée Etranger (2000). In 1998 Kaniuk was honored with...