Host Marcela Sulak reads from Alex Epstein's story "Death in Pajamas," which appears in the Tel Aviv Noir anthology, edited by Etgar Keret and Assaf Gavron, and translated by Yardenne Greenspan. The story begins:

"Death wore a leather jacket over blue pajamas. He opened the door and came in. Without a word, he sat at the counter facing King George Street. It was 7:24 in the morning. I’d just opened up shop and made myself an espresso. To really wake up, you have to blow on a mirror. That’s exactly what I was about to do when Death came in."

Epstein was born in St. Petersburg (called Leningrad at the time) in 1971 and moved to Israel when he was eight years old. He is the author of four collections of short stories and three novels; his work has been widely translated. He’s also won the Israel Prime Minister’s Prize for Literature.
Text:Alex Epstein, “Death in Pajamas,” Tel Aviv Noir edited by Etgar Keret and Assaf Gavron, translated by Yardenne Greenspan, Akashic Books, 2014.
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