David Grossman

David Grossman (born 1954 in Jerusalem) [ - Israeli novelist, essayist, and prominent peace activist whose literary works explore the complex realities of Israeli identity, family ties, the trauma of war, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Born to a modest family; his father was a bus driver turned librarian who introduced him to the classic tales of Sholem Aleichem. Worked as a child actor and radio broadcaster for Israel Radio starting at age 10, a career he maintained for nearly 25 years. Served in Unit 8200 of the IDF Intelligence Corps. Completed a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Theater at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His literature frequently addresses coming-of-age, systemic violence, and the emotional vulnerabilities of human relationships. Authored highly celebrated novels including See Under: Love (grappling with the Holocaust), The Book of Intimate Grammar, Someone to Run With, and A Horse Walks into a Bar. Published seminal political and social commentary, including The Yellow Wind (1987), which anticipated the first Palestinian Intifada. Wrote numerous children’s books and plays, finding massive success with both young and adult audiences. He is a leading intellectual voice for the Israeli peace movement, advocating for mutual dialogue and a two-state solution. In August 2006, his son Uri was killed in action during the Second Lebanon War. This profound grief heavily influenced his subsequent masterpiece, To the End of the Land, and his experimental novel Falling Out of Time. Recipient of the prestigious International Booker Prize (2017), the Israel Prize (2018), and the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade (2010). Main Works of Relevance:

Grossman, David, (The Yellow Wind [transl. by Haim Watzman, hc, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1988] 978-0374293451 [pb, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1998] 978-0374525613

Grossman, David, (The Smile of the Lamb [transl. by Betsy Rosenberg, hc, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1991] 978-0374266394 [pb, Washington Square Press, 1992] 978-0671750251 [The focus here is not criminality but the corrupting effects of military occupation. Israelis and Palestinians become trapped in relationships of domination, deception, and violence. Grossman treats political power itself as a kind of moral transgression.]

Grossman, David, (See Under: Love [transl. by Betsy Rosenberg, hc, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1989] 978-0374257316 [pb, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1997] 978-0374525194

Grossman, David, (The Zigzag Kid [transl. by Betsy Rosenberg, hc, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1997] 978-0374296926 [pb, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1998] 978-0374525637

Grossman, David, (Someone to Run With [transl. by Vered Almog and Maya Gurantz. hc, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2004]) 978-0374266578 [pb, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2004] 978-0747568124

Grossman, David, (More Than I Love My Life [transl. by Jessica Cohen, hc, Knopf, 2021]) 978-0593318911 [pb, Vintage, 2022] 978-0593312599

Grossman is not a crime author per se, but rather uses elements of crime, delinquency, and transgressive behavior as a crucial vehicle for exploring deeper psychological, historical, and national anxieties. For Grossman, crime is rarely about the violation of state laws; it is an entry point to discuss the vulnerability of youth, the erosion of the idealized “Zionist muscle Jew,” and the moral degradation that stems from trauma and political occupation. Grossman effectively subverts traditional notions of Jewish criminality through several distinct thematic frameworks in his major works:

1. The Underworld as a Sanctuary for Vulnerable Youth

In his urban adventure novel, Someone to Run With (2000), Grossman directly addresses the criminal underworld of Jerusalem. The novel features street-level drug rings, exploitation, and theft operated by a criminal mastermind who preys on runaway youth. [Almost recalls Fagin.] Grossman uses this criminal backdrop to explore the isolation and profound loneliness of teenagers who do not fit into the rigid, militarized mainstream Israeli society. The “crime” is a symptom of a society failing its youth. Here, survival in the criminal underworld requires empathy, art (busking/singing), and emotional connection, contrasting the clinical, cold reality of the criminal syndicate.

2. Deconstructing the Myth of the “New Jew”

Historically, early Zionist philosophy celebrated the “New Jew” (Sabra)—an agrarian, heroic figure intended to be the antithesis of the legally fragile, urban, or oppressed Diaspora Jew. Grossman deliberately reintroduces the archetype of the Jewish trickster or criminal to dismantle this myth.

The Zigzag Kid (1994): The story follows thirteen-year-old Nonni, the son of a deeply rigid, law-abiding Israeli police detective. Nonni is hijacked into an adventure by Felix Glick, a legendary Jewish master thief. Felix Glick represents creativity, fluidity, and absolute freedom—traits suppressed by the strict, regimented rule-following of the Israeli state apparatus represented by Nonni’s father. By framing the master criminal as a warm, imaginative mentor, Grossman suggests that embracing a “zigzag,” slightly transgressive nature is necessary to survive the suffocating conformity of official national narratives.

3. Historical Trauma and Moral Metamorphosis

In See Under: Love (1986), Grossman addresses the ultimate crime—the Holocaust—and looks at how it warped human behavior. The novel features a Jewish writer, Wasserman, who is trapped in a concentration camp and forced to tell bedtime stories to the Nazi commandant, Neigel. Rather than settling for a simple binary of “pure victim” versus “monstrous criminal,” Grossman introduces deep moral ambiguities. Wasserman’s storytelling forces the Nazi perpetrator to confront his own humanity, subtly shifting the power dynamic. Simultaneously, the novel’s first section portrays Momik, a young Israeli boy who behaves erratically, attempting to “breed” the “Nazi Beast” in his cellar to destroy it. Grossman uses this bizarre mental delinquency to show how unaddressed historical trauma can turn victims into obsessive, emotionally crippled perpetrators themselves.

Summary of Grossman’s Literary Use of Crime

Ultimately, David Grossman utilizes crime to critique the moral cost of absolute law enforcement and state-sanctioned toughness. By aligning his most human, vibrant characters with the fringes of the law or outright delinquency, he argues for a return to nuance, empathy, and personal vulnerability over structural stiffness. [Google/AI]

Grossman is interested less in crime as such than in the lingering effects of historical injustices and personal betrayals. He asks, in More Than I Love My Life, how people live after committing, witnessing, or surviving acts of cruelty. Grossman’s contribution lies in examining what might be called collective moral culpability. His fiction repeatedly asks whether nations, communities, and ordinary citizens become implicated in systems of violence. His focus is thus not “Jews and crime” but rather Jews, power, violence, guilt, and moral responsibility. [Wikipedia] He transforms the language of guilt, wrongdoing, confession, punishment, and responsibility into a means of examining the moral consequences of Jewish sovereignty, war, memory, and human relationships. Crime in Grossman is generally metaphorical—a way of thinking about ethical responsibility rather than a subject in its own right. [ChatGPT]