Etgar Keret: Crazy Glue

I’m not sure where I first came across Israeli writer Etgar Keret. His collection of short stories, The Girl on the Fridge, has been a staple in my reading life for several years. I pull it out when I need something fun with an edge. At least Keret seems to be having fun. That doesn’t mean his writing isn’t incredibly accomplished, witty, thought provoking, insightful. His stories have heart, intelligence and a quirkiness that no AI program will ever duplicate. He makes you think. He’s unique in the best possible way.

Take “Crazy Glue,” a story of approximately 500 words. It has me laughing out loud every time I read it. Out loud. In the story, a marriage has gone stale. The husband is cheating on the wife, which she may or may not know. (I’m guessing she does or at least intuits.) The wife has bought a tube of super glue “to kill time.” Something to do, in other words. On the container someone is hanging from the ceiling by his feet, supposedly held there by the glue. The husband scoffs at the photo, calls it a trick of photography, jabs at her for wasting money. He leaves for work and the wife gets busy with the glue. When the husband comes home, he finds everything superglued together—chairs to the floor, the refrigerator door glued shut, the receiver to the phone, his wife to the ceiling. Yes, hanging by her feet, just like on the box. The quirkiness of his wife dangling there challenges the husband to see his wife in a new way. It may even save the marriage.

Okay, I’ve given away the entire plot to the nutty but thought provoking “Crazy Glue.” In The Girl on the Fridge there are forty more stories just as fun, just an entertaining, just as brilliantly quirky.

In addition to his short stories, graphic novels, children’s books and scriptwriting, Keret authors a newsletter through Substack called “Alphabet Soup.” It features writing tips, current events and anything else that comes to his fertile, inventive mind. Crazy Glue is available online at: https://onceuponatime.outlawpoetry.com/2011/10/20/crazy-glue/•