This booklet includes a lecture called "Second Generation" and four remarkable short stories by Etgar Keret: "Asthma Attack," "Shoes," "Siren," and "Foreign Language," the last of which has never before appeared in the United States. Openly discussing his family background for the first time, Keret brings to life the confused experience of growing up as an Israeli child of Holocaust survivors. One of Israel¿s leading voices in literature and cinema, Keret mixes wry humor, keen intelligence, and subtle tenderness to create some of the most provocative and entertaining stories of his generation.