Magazine Comics About
On Ambivalence
Jonathan Garfinkel interviewed by Adam Sol (Audio)

Jonathan Garfinkel’s memoir Ambivalence is an investigation into questions regarding the Palestine/Israel divide. In Israel, Garfinkel own central paradox is that he engages these questions both as charming naïf (he has no answers, is not an expert, and plays the simpleton—often to great comic effect—whenever things don’t go quite right) and as artistic predator (he simply needs a narrative for a play he want commissioned). Pursuing a house in Israel that both a Palestinian and an Israeli purportedly call home, Garfinkel is sure he will find a place of peace and good will; the reality is starkly other, giving a nuance to the story that reveals itself in shades of grey. Hence Ambivalence.

We saw Garfinkel interview Shalom Auslander at the IFOA last year, and wanted to give him an opportunity to be interviewed. Poet Adam Sol and Garfinkel discuss, among other things the vulnerability of writing memoir, and the cultural and personal risks of heading off into Ramallah as a Jew.

Jonathan Garfinkle Interview
(26:00) (6.2mb)
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Jonathan Garfinkel is the author of the book of poetry Glass Psalms and the plays "Walking to Russia" and "The Trials of John Demjanjuk: A Holocaust Cabaret". His play "House of Many Tongues" will be produced in Toronto and Tel Aviv in 2008-2009. Ambivalence is his first work of prose. He lives in Toronto.

Adam Sol is the author of two collections of poetry, most recently Crowd of Sounds, which won the Trillium Award for Poetry. His next book, Jeremiah, Ohio, will be published this fall.
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