Matches: A Novel

by Alan Kaufman

Living life on the edge as a young American member of the Israeli Defense Force, Nathan Falk patrols the streets of Gaza in the late evenings and spends his off-duty time playing high-stakes games with fellow officers and engaging in an affair with his best friend's wife. By the author of Jew Boy. Original. 20,000 first printing.

Genres: Fiction, War

264 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2005

About the author

Alan Kaufman's novel Matches was published by Little, Brown and Company in the Fall of 2005. David Mamet has called Matches "an extraordinary war novel," and Dave Eggers has written that "there is more passion here then you see in twenty other books combined." Kaufman's critically-acclaimed memoir, Jew Boy (Fromm/Farrar,Strauss, Giroux), has appeared in three editions, hardcover and paperback, in the United States and Great Britain. He is the award-winning editor of several anthologies, the most recent of which, The Outlaw Bible of American Literature, was recently reviewed on the cover of the New York Times Book Review. There are two more volumes in Kaufman's Outlaw anthology series: The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry and The Outlaw Bible of American Esaays. He has taught in the graduate and undergraduate schools of the Academy of Art University and in writing workshops in San Francisco. His work has appeared in Salon, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, Partisan Review and The San Francisco Examiner. Kaufman has been widely anthologized, most recently in Nothing Makes You Free: Writings From Descendents of Holocaust Survivors (WW Norton). Kaufman is a member of PEN American Center. Kaufman's papers and manuscripts are on deposit in the Special Collections Library of the University of Delaware and he is profiled in the Europa Biographical Reference Series.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Matches, a novel (Little, Brown); (Constable & Robinson, UK) Jew Boy, a memoir (Fromm/FSG); (Constable & Robinson, UK; Uitgeverij Ten Have, Holland) The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry (Thunder's Mouth Press; Basic Books) The Outlaw Bible of American Literature (Thunder's Mouth Press; Basic Books) The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry (Thunder's Mouth Press; Basic Books) The New Generation: Fiction For Our Time From America's Writing Programs (Anchor/Doubleday) Who Are We? Poems (Davka/Wordland Books LTD)

Reviews

[Stacy Milacek · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is real life "Waiting for the Barbarians." There are no good guys. There is no solution. There is only guilt.

[Boris Scherbakov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neal recommended I post little reviews on the books I read. Here you go Neal.

This is a dark, challenging series of stories that take place in and around present-day Gaza City. Narrated by the author's fictional persona Nathan Falk, a grunt in the IDF, where the Captains call their soldiers "matches" due to their flimsy and fleeting roles in the war. I thought the book was wholly engrossing and admired Kaufman's grim poet's perspective on the perpetual horror that seems baked into the violent territory that he describes. An unflinching and unapologetic account of the Arab-Israeli conflict that may provide readers with a deeper understanding of the situation than the next headline that graces the front page of the NYT. Reminded me a bit of Heart of Darkness, and the chapter about the Bedouin, which was my favorite, held the same fascination for me as did the story about Bela in A Hero of Our Time.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The cover had some blurb that "Kauffman is not for everyone. He's strange. His writing is strange." I guess that makes me strange?

I appreciate how well he fleshed the 'characters' out. Maybe a sentence describing how the guy looked or his personality. Making each soldier unique.

I like the way it ended, with them heading off to a mission, possible death hanging over their head...and down falls the final curtain.

For a rule of thumb, real ex-military can write far better novels about war than someone just working from the imagination. I have no doubt that everyone in this book were mirror-imaged to suit a soldier that Kauffman knew.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matches is a fictional tale, loosely based on the author's experiences as a New York-born Jew who emigrates to Israel to join the military. One of the most richly written pieces of literature I've experienced in a while. I strongly recommend the book for an adult audience, as it is laced with the sexual trysts of the main character, frequent drug use, and profanity throughout.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know why I was excited to read short stories about serving in the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces.) It was too depressing for me to get very far.