Everything Is Illuminated

Imagine a novel as verbally cunning as A Clockwork Orange, as harrowing as The Painted Bird, as exuberant and twee as Candide, and you have Everything Is Illuminated . . . Read it, and you'll feel altered, chastened -- seared in the fire of something new. -- Washington Post With only a yellowing photograph in hand, a young man -- also named Jonathan Safran Foer -- sets out to find the woman who might or might not have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Accompanied by an old man haunted by memories of the war, an amorous dog named Sammy Davis, Junior, Junior, and the unforgettable Alex, a young Ukrainian translator who speaks in a sublimely butchered English, Jonathan is led on a quixotic journey over a devastated landscape and into an unexpected past. As their adventure unfolds, Jonathan imagines the history of his grandfather's village, conjuring a magical fable of startling symmetries that unite generations across time. As his search moves back in time, the fantastical history moves forward, until reality collides with fiction in a heart-stopping scene of extraordinary power. A rambunctious tour de force of inventive and intelligent storytelling . . . Foer can place his reader's hand on the heart of human experience, the transcendent beauty of human connections. Read, you can feel the life beating. -- Philadelphia Inquirer Robert Petkoff has appeared on film and TV in Woody Allen's Irrational Man, Madam Secretary, Elementary, The Good Wife, Chappelle's Show, and Law & Order. His Broadway credits include All The Way with Bryan Cranston, Anything Goes, Ragtime, Spamalot and Fiddler on the Roof. Mr. Petkoff is an Audie and Earphones award winner.

“"Read it, and you'll feel altered, chastened--seared in the fire of something new." -- "Washington Post"”

[A] dazzling literary high-wire act...Brilliant...The payoff is extraordinary: a fearless, acrobatic, ultimately haunting effort.

-- "New York Times"

[A] funny, moving...deeply felt novel about the dangers of confronting the past and the redemption that comes with laughing at it, even when that seems all but impossible.

-- "Time"

A rambunctious tour de force of inventive and intelligent storytelling...Foer can place his reader's hand on the heart of human experience, the transcendent beauty of human connections. Read, you can feel the life beating.

-- "Philadelphia Inquirer"

Narrator Robert Petkoff captures the wit and humor of this award-winning novel...Petkoff easily switches between different accents and distinct voices as he portrays a fictional Jonathan Safran Foer, the work's author and main character, and his friend Alex Perchov, who butchers the English language with his malapropisms...Those who love a combination of humor, tragedy, history, and nonlinear storytelling will be rewarded.

-- "AudioFile"

JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER is the author of the novels Everything Is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and a work of nonfiction, Eating Animals. His books have won numerous awards and have been translated into thirty-six languages. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

"Imagine a novel as verbally cunning as A Clockwork Orange , as harrowing as The Painted Bird , as exuberant and twee as Candide , and you have Everything Is Illuminated . . . Read it, and you'll feel altered, chastened -- seared in the fire of something new." -- Washington Post With only a yellowing photograph in hand, a young man -- also named Jonathan Safran Foer -- sets out to find the woman who might or might not have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Accompanied by an old man haunted by memories of the war, an amorous dog named Sammy Davis, Junior, Junior, and the unforgettable Alex, a young Ukrainian translator who speaks in a sublimely butchered English, Jonathan is led on a quixotic journey over a devastated landscape and into an unexpected past. As their adventure unfolds, Jonathan imagines the history of his grandfather's village, conjuring a magical fable of startling symmetries that unite generations across time. As his search moves back in time, the fantastical history moves forward, until reality collides with fiction in a heart-stopping scene of extraordinary power. "A rambunctious tour de force of inventive and intelligent storytelling . . . Foer can place his reader's hand on the heart of human experience, the transcendent beauty of human connections. Read, you can feel the life beating." -- Philadelphia Inquirer

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.