Englander has woven a powerful, intensely suspenseful portrait of a nation riven by insoluble conflict, even as the lives of its citizens become fatefully and inextricably entwined–a political thriller of the highest order that interrogates the anguished, violent division between Israelis and Palestinians, and dramatizes the immense moral ambiguities haunting both sides. Who is right, who is wrong–who is the guard, who is truly the prisoner? Simply put by NPR, DINNER AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH is a “glorious…devastating…a beautiful masterpiece.” NTK Network also highlights, “The ability to see the world from both Israeli and Palestinian perspectives is what gives DINNER AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH its optimistic moral center. Both Israelis and Palestinians are faithful to the righteousness of their own cause, but at times, characters can see a way past this most charged of conflicts to a future of peace… Yet while the novel is optimistic, it is also realistic. The violence, and the historical memory of past violence, keeps both sides addicted to carrying out further attacks in the name of retribution. Englander’s ability to capture the almost pathological nature to ‘get even’ shines.” Nathan Englander’s first novel was The Ministry of Special Cases, and he is also the author of the story collections For the Relief of Unbearable Urges and What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank—winner of the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His short fiction has been widely anthologized, most recently in 100 Years of the Best American Short Stories. Englander’s play, The Twenty-Seventh Man, premiered at the Public Theatre in 2012. He translated the New American Haggadah and co-translated Etgar Keret’s Suddenly a Knock on the Door. He is additionally a Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at New York University.

Nathan offers personal insights into his latest novel with responses to the following three questions: [caption id="attachment_7732" align="alignright" width="300"] Nathan Englander
Credit: Joshua Meier[/caption] How would you describe the genesis of DINNER AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH? I trace it back to the collapse of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the end of my time in Jerusalem (where I lived from 1996 to 2001). I never got over the opportunity lost. And I’ve always wanted to explore that impossibly complicated conflict in a novel. What were the most challenging and rewarding aspects of writing this book? The most challenging? That’s easy. Part of what obsesses me about the subject, is the circular nature of the fighting. Everyone always avenging those who died avenging. Everyone, on both sides—I promise you—right now preparing for the next round. I wanted DINNER AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH to reflect that spiral in its structure. So, though it reads in a linear fashion, it’s built up of maybe a half dozen different timelines, and with characters playing dual roles. As for the rewarding aspects, it was a lot of fun to build a spy who is, in many ways—mercy upon him—as neurotic as I am. What elements of DINNER AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH do you think will resonate most strongly with readers? I’d say my guess is as good as yours. But, it’s actually worse. I’ve only done two public events so far, and I’ve already learned so many things about what’s in the book, and how it will be read. Last night, I was in conversation with Jonathan Safran Foer and he asked a question about the parallels between the two critical dinners at the end of the novel that was so smart, so different from how I’d thought about it, it made me see the ending in a whole new light.