Mr. Mani

A. B. Yehoshua · 1936–2022 · Israel

Originally Mar Mani (Hebrew) · translated by Hillel Halkin

Why it matters

Five conversations, each heard only from one side and moving backward across two centuries, trace one family's entanglement with Zionism, madness, and belonging. Yehoshua's most structurally audacious novel, widely considered his masterpiece.

At a glance

Five one-sided dialogues moving in reverse chronological order demand constant reconstruction of the missing half.