One of Israel's most celebrated novelists, MEIR SHALEV was
born in 1948 on Nahalal, Israel's first moshav. His books have been
translated into more than twenty-five languages and his honors
include the National Jewish Book Award and Israel's Brenner Prize
for A Pigeon and a Boy.
JOANNA CHEN is the translator of Less Like a Dove and
Frayed Light. She is a columnist for the Los Angeles
Review of Books. REFAELLA SHIR is an Israeli artist who lives
in Montreal. She studied art in Israel, Canada, and the United
States and has exhibited internationally. Her work can be viewed at
refaellashir.com.
"Insightful, funny . . . Full of wisdom . . . You come away from the garden memoir with a clear sense of the author--his concerns, his surroundings, his loves--and a string of reverberating questions. Why, for example, as Shalev notes, are so few flowers mentioned in the Bible? What does that say about us as a people? And why do the poppies sway--even when the air is still? . . . I went to sleep every night with the smell of fresh figs and lemons and the sound of birdsong in my ears and the image of Shalev's beloved black cat, Kramer, the hero of many of his Hebrew children's stories, sleeping the day away beneath the buckthorn tree." --Mitch Ginsburg, The Times of Israel"A freewheeling horticultural homage . . . Shalev's own garden serves as a point of departure for literary musings that bloom into a kind of 'autobiography with flowers.' . . . Witty prose expertly translated from the Hebrew by Joanna Chen and charmingly illustrated by Refaella Shir." --Benjamin Balint, Tel Aviv Review of Books
"A nurturer of plants who is careful not to waste even a
single seed and mourns the death of a tree, Shalev is a lyrical
stylist and philosopher who writes with passion and humor. Drawings
by Shir enhance the text." --Sue O'Brien, Library Journal
"Charming musings on the 'moments of bliss' found in the garden . .
. in which gardening teaches perspective and the rewards of hard
work . . . Rests on solid botanical knowledge but is never
heavy-handed." --Kirkus Reviews
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