I
NFRANCE,DidierEribon iswhatwewouldcall a “public
intellectual” or, less flatteringly, a “talking head,” one of
those people who keep appearing on TV to give you their
views on some topic of themoment. Eribon is nowa professor
of sociology at one of the regional French universities that he
ridicules in thisbook. For yearsbefore, however, he survivedas
apublic figure largely thanks to the successof hisbiographyof
Michel Foucault and articles hewrote for newsmagazines like
LeNouvel Observateur
, a publication that he “hated” and “de-
tested,” toquote thisbook. “I reallydidn’t haveachoice,”he in-
sistswhen talkingabout howhewrote for it for somanyyears.
Evidently, there were no other jobs to be had in France at the
time, or at least none that Eribon didn’t regard as even further
beneathhis dignity.This book is full of such self-justifications.
The first two parts are devoted to explaining howEribon
distanced himself fromhis family and anything related to his
Not all the stories are equally strong. Ehrlich canbemoral-
izing, especially when he treads on political metaphors in his
“straight” stories. When he digresses from the Israeli main-
streamtomake an “inclusive” point, he oftenmisses themark.
“Vadim” is probably intended as a humanizing amplifier of Is-
raeli minorities, but this short monologue in broken language
by an immigrant fromRussia who accidentally shot anArab
boyhas apatronizing ring to it.Another problemis that several
pieces feel like a sketch inneedof development.
Still, Ehrlich is an insightful commentator about Israeli so-
ciety. Take the fast-paced “ToTheLimit,” inwhich a driver on
ahighway fends off anattempt tocut himoff.He thengoes out
ofhisway tomakesure theother, equallydoggeddriverwill not
get ahead of him. The aggressive yet friendly game of chicken
continuesuntil thedrivers runout of roaduponhitting thecoun-
try’s border.
Ehrlich is at his best when writing in a gay voice on gay
themes.Hedescribeswithdepthandhonesty the loneliness and
insecurity that many gay readers have experienced, regardless
of where they live. In “Alone,” a manmust spend a weekend
away fromhis boyfriend and finds even this brief separation
hard to take. So his friends drop in unannounced to keep him
company until his boyfriend gets back. Thus, the universal ex-
perienceof loneliness is alleviatedby the Israeli styleof friend-
ship. If it’s an exaggeration to say that the Israeli and gay
identities reinforceeachother, at leastEhrlich’sgayexperience
has a distinctly Israeli color.
________________________________________________________
Yoav Sivan is an Israeli journalist based inNewYork. Hemaintains a
website at
R
ICHARD
M. B
ERRONG
TheMiracle ofMe
Returning to Reims
byDidier Eribon
Semiotext(e). 240pages,$17.95
Y
OAV
S
IVAN
Living in theLevant
WhoWill Die Last? Stories of Life in Israel
byDavidEhrlich
SyracuseUniv.Press. 154pages,$19.95
S
TANDINLINEtoenter amovie theater in Israel, and it’s
a good bet the stranger behind you will enter your con-
versation to offer an opinion about whatever you’re dis-
cussingwith your date. Israel is small enough to view itself as
a family. Indeed, Israeli society is personal inaway that erases
personal boundaries. To us Israelis, your business is my busi-
ness, never mind that we’ve just met; I just want to help. In a
countrywhere theethosof familyprevailsover formality, being
openlygaymeans everyonearoundyouwill have something to
sayabout it, oftenaffirmingly.After all, if littleelse isyour own
business, whywouldbeinggaybe?
Such is thesociological landscape for thesevenshort stories
about gay life in Israel that appear among the 21 in
WhoWill
DieLast?
by thegay Israeli authorDavidEhrlich.Ehrlich,who
is 54, is also the owner of Tmol Shilshom, a café in Jerusalem
that’s popular with literary types. The storieswere selected by
theeditorKenFrieden, aprofessorof JewishstudiesatSyracuse
University, from the writer’s two books in Hebrew—
Tuesday
and ThursdayMornings
and
Blue 18
—andwere put intoEng-
lishby thirteendifferent translators.
Two of themost engaging pieces see a protagonist torn be-
tween a private life abroad and family life in Israel. In “It’sAll
Right,”agayIsraeli living in theU.S. isoverwhelmedwithnos-
talgiawhenhisparentspayhimavisit.Thisprotagonist remains
inAmerica, but the one in another story, “Stars,” opts to return
to Israel, leaving his boyfriend inLondon tomove back to his
childhoodhome in Jerusalem.
Opportunities for escapecouldalsobe foundcloser tohome.
InEhrlich’s rendering, the army, that formative experience for
Israeli youths, is the improbable environment for self-explo-
ration. “On Reserve,” the longest piece, follows a man who,
year after year while on reserve duty away fromhis wife and
children, falls into thehabit of havinggay sex. Everything is in
checkuntil he falls for a younggay soldier on active duty.
This reserve soldier is the most closeted character to be
found throughout the book, while the young soldier seems al-
ready to be coming out. Their age difference may represent a
generational gap in Israeli society, for the olderman, who still
has a foot in the closeted past, regards being gay as first and
foremost about sex,while theyoungermanconfidentlydeclares
hisgaynessasapersonal identity, one that allows for lovealong
withsexual desire.The first, never fullycomfortablewithbeing
gay,must struggle toaccept himself; the latter, forwhombeing
gay isentirelynatural, demandsacceptance fromothers. In“The
Life andDeathof Frank22,” a 42-year-oldman invents anon-
line persona of a 22-year-old that is showeredwith the virtual
attention he could never draw“IRL” (in real life).
May–June 2014
41
