Falafel Oslo

Lennon Lombroso was born in Tiberias on the day John Lennon was shot in New York. He got his unusual first name because his father, a dedicated Beatles fan and the owner of the Fab Four falafel stand, was convinced that the soul of his favorite musician had been reincarnated in his newborn son. Relatives and rabbis warned that the name was a bad omen—a prophecy that comes true more than twenty years later, when Lennon falls in love with a young Norwegian girl working as a volunteer on a kibbutz. After a journey of self discovery to the Far East, he decides to follow his heart to Oslo, where Mona awaits him. And it is in tranquil, tolerant Oslo that Lennon discovers the power of his Israeli heritage. He sets up a business—Falafel Oslo—hangs up a sign that describes falafel as “Israel’s national dish” and to his amazement is swept into a worldwide political and legal maelstrom. Among those involved are Palestinian activists who are angry at the description of falafel—originally an Arab food—as Israeli; xenophobic Norwegian right-wingers and European left-wingers who fight with them; cynical, publicity-seeking lawyers and media people, as well as zealous Israeli patriots unwilling to surrender a beloved national symbol. Falafel Oslo—written before the terrible massacre in Norway in July 2011—is a riveting, insightful and sometimes satirical novel that examines notions of destiny and identity, and measures the similarities and differences between Oriental and Occidental cultures, between the longing for peace and infatuation with blind, violent force.