Rustic Sunset

The eight stories in Rustic Sunset are an unusual combination of drama and introspection, tales of childhood and maturity. The first stories are those of an adult looking back on his youth. The following three, "Dime Novel," "Eighteen Months" and "Nicole," deal with urban life in modern Israel. In each of the stories the characters - lawyers, writers, professors, students, army personnel - are affected both directly and indirectly by the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The last story, "A Tale of Two Brothers," is a short chronicle based on the oral history of a Russian Jewish family dispersed over three continents.




Yitzhak Ben-Ner's stories are compelling, haunting. The situations and characters are unforgettable, often bizarre, always real, with sensuous portrayals of sexuality, and frighteningly honest presentations of love, desperation, dying, daily living.
Critic Robert Whitehill

Ben-Ner comes to terms with harsh and painful contemporary material, achieving rare artistic expression.
Judges Panel, Ramat-Gan Prize for Literature