Book review: A Horse Walks Into A Bar by David Grossman

David Grossman, bestselling author of Falling Out Of Time and To The End Of The Land, has been called the finest Israeli novelist writing today.

The premise of his latest story is simple. Dovaleh G, a fading stand-up short of stature and low in self-esteem, gives a final performance. His routine is that of a man in meltdown, and some of his audience, it emerges, have been specially invited to witness it.

And that’s about it. The entire book is taken up with a description of the comic’s monologue, of the stories he tells and the memories he shares, and the rollercoaster reactions of his audience. Its narrator is a former childhood friend, now a retired judge, who nurses his own private grief and is still trying to work out why he’s been summoned to the performance.

The technical challenges are considerable. Do we believe in this man? Absolutely, and the nuances of his back story are brilliantly realised. Are the jokes funny? Sometimes — when they’re not, that’s to the point too. Does it sustain us over 200 pages? Just about.

A Horse Walks Into A Bar

David Grossman

Jonathan Cape, £14.99 (ebook £9.99)