The Mizanthropist

Doron Aricha, a very successful playwright in his late 30s, despises people and torments them verbally. He lives in Tel Aviv with his girlfriend of 11 years, Irit Spirer, a frustrated fringe artist. As the story unravels, we learn that she recently attempted suicide and was saved at the last moment by Doron. Now she is furious. Thus begins an intricate conspiracy concocted by Irit, whose endgame is the transformation of Doron Aricha from passive misanthrope into active serial killer. But both Doron and the reader are unaware of her motivation until the very last episode, in which Irit maneuvers him into killing her—on stage, dramatically, on a gala night—thus paying him back for the death he “stole” from her in the beginning. Though thrilling and slanted toward the tragic, The Misanthropist is a very funny, snappy novel with evident philosophical and psychological depth, almost palpable descriptions and superbly snide dialogues. It deals comically with the most sinister attributes of human nature, mainly our innate disdain for one another, which are often veiled by kindness and etiquette.