Schlepping Across The Nile: Collected Stories

In the footsteps of Andre Aciman’s Out of Egypt, and Lucette Lagnado’s The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit comes Aaron Zevy’s Schlepping Across the Nile: a collection of vignettes, memoirs and stories, culled from Zevy’s first three books, which crackle with wit, brazen sentimentality and unfiltered self-awareness.

This collection adds a comic and often poignant twist to the story of the nearly 1 million strong Jews who lived in Arab lands before the second world war. But Zevy, the son of an ashkenazi father and sephardic mother adds some shtick to his recollections. His Ashkenazi side is the wry, bemused spectator of the antics and entanglements of his other half.

In Crossing the Nile, the young Zevy begs his mother to make Lipton Cup-A-Soup and grilled cheese instead of an Egyptian concoction for a Canadian friend coming over for lunch. In Shesh Besh, the grown up Zevy is terrified that the aggressive backgammon taught to him by his foul-mouthed uncles will derail a blind date. In Hanono, he is a second from bursting with excitement over a chance to finally fire a favorite juicy Arabic insult amongst Egyptian poker players.

Join Zevy as he navigates life as an outsider amongst outsiders, and remember, never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Praise for Almost The Truth...

from Midwest Book Review:
"Almost the Truth: Stories and Lies is uniformly one of the more creative, satisfyingly reads of 2020. Readers who enjoy wry humor and life observations that depart from any anticipated pathway will delight in Aaron Zevy's collection, which is often politically or culturally incorrect in delightful ways."
-Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer

Praise for Not Book Club Material...

From Kirkus Reviews:
"He’s at his best proving that the extraordinary exists within the ordinary. Readers will be drawn into these largely brief vignettes, and the line of demarcation between the real and the imagined will cease to matter. In fact, the audience will learn to embrace the messy mixture. (...)

"All the stories have the tenor of an intimate confidence—minor events are recounted in an informally anecdotal style brimful of lighthearted insights. This is a companionably diverting selection of stories, vibrantly humorous and thoughtfully perspicacious. Those in search of an easy but still engaging work will enjoy these offerings."

Starred Review from Blue Ink Reviews:
"The laugh-out-loud quality of his work makes fact or fiction irrelevant... His writing has a staccato-like quality... moving the story quickly along and making reading a delight... Like a good comedian, he always delivers...