The Black Hills of Dakota
In this story of a persecuted and abused twelve-year-old boy, Agassi leaves no myth intact. The setting is a mediocre kibbutz in the 1950s. Living in the shadow of past catastrophes and future worries, Zali’s parents speak Yiddish and dwell in a diaspora greyness, untouched by the Mediterranean sun. Weak little Zali has nothing of the sabra about him and is subjected to the kibbutz children’s brutality. His mother believes that all kibbutz children are happy because they know nothing about anti-Semitism. Over everything hangs the image of Zali’s dead brother, whom he fantasizes to be a Hollywood star.
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“ Superb. ”
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“ A dry, credible bitterness pervades this impressive first novel... This is criticism without mercy or compromise, but Agassi never lets the extremely emotional storybecome maudlin.”