The Venn diagram that pinpoints potential readers of this novel ought to be the intersection of “people who like stand up comedy” and “people who like reading fiction”. In any case, an interest in jokes would help any reader of this book, set up as a 200-page description of a stand up comedy show gone awry.
The performer of this show is 57-year old Dov Greenstein, psychologically frail and at the end of his tether. His unusual standup routine in a bar in the seaside town of Netanya, seems improvised and jittery. It begins with comedy material, then transforms into therapy session, wobbles back to jokes and then some more confession. This dance of puns and pain permeate the story, which is narrated from the point of view of Dov’s estranged childhood friend, the courtroom judge, whom Dovaleh G invited to the show in order to get a judgment of his show, and ultimately, his life.
Grossman does a good job of portraying this neurotic jokefest, and along the way manages to psychoanalyse middle aged men, comedians and even the Israeli psyche. It’s not a book with much in the way of conclusion, but just like a comedy show it is fun while it lasts. I haven’t read anything else by Grossman, but I imagine that this is an unusual offering in his oeuvre. The short timespan of the book reminds me of a book that impressed me in my 20s, Nicholson Baker’s The Mezzanine, a whole novel taking place inside a man’s head during his lunch break. This also takes place mostly inside one man’s head and it makes me wonder whether there are any novels specifically about a person in psychotherapy – because this comedy show felt very much like a man on the couch spilling his mind.
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Kinship of all Species 