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The Gigolo from Congo and Other Characters

Hanoch Levin

In The Gigolo from Congo and Other Characters, the hypochondriac protagonist of one story is convinced he could have attained the world record running the mile, but above all he cherishes the image of his beloved handing him a towel and sandwich after the race. In this collection, the stories are peopled by parasites, desperate dreamers, opportunists and masochists, striving to squeeze the last drop of pleasure from disgrace. Levin combines the blackest humor with tender compassion for human frailty. In the sketch “Two Embarrassed Men and an Irritable Woman,” a husband’s simple request for salt triggers an outburst from his wife: “No love! No passion!…No style! Disgusting!” This is a world of exaggeration, of overacting and over-reacting.
Representation
The Israeli Institute for Hebrew Literature
Title The Gigolo from Congo and Other Characters
Writer's Last Name Levin
Writer's First Name Hanoch
Genre Fiction
Publisher (Hebrew) Hakibbutz Hameuchad
No. Pages 332pp.
Book title - Hebrew (phonetic) Ha-Jigolo Mi-Kongo Ve-Tipusim Acherim: Sipurim, Pizmonim, Ma'archonim, Tasritim

  • “ There is something awe-inspiring about The Gigolo From Congo and Other Characters...which is comedy in its purest form.”

    Novelist and critic Yitzhak Laor

  • “ This collection... does more than any other Levin work to point out his astounding genius... An artist who exhibits virtuosity in as many genres as he does and who changes styles like gloves, is not common in the literary world. Levin is an excellent humorist and brilliant satirist and describer of the grotesque. ”