Review of ‘Autocorrect’ by Etgar Keret

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could fix everything that goes wrong in our life? In the title story of ‘Autocorrect’, Etgar Keret’s new collection, Yuvi wakes up on what he hopes will be an ‘extra special day’ - if the Chinese sign a deal with the company where he’s the CEO. His doorbell rings and it’s his father, hoping to travel together to their office. Yuvi says, “I’ll see you there,” but his father never makes it to the office. He is killed in a horrific traffic accident.

Yuvi’s alarm goes off and he wakes to find his father standing outside his door, offering to drive him to the office. In this Groundhog Day scenario, Yuvi has a chance to reverse the bad outcome of the previous day’s tragedy. But will his fortunes be better this time around?

‘Autocorrect’ is one of the 33 short, short stories in Autocorrect by Etgar Keret, translated by Jessica Cohen and Sondra Silverston (Riverhead Books, May 27, 2025). Readers familiar with Keret will be entertained by more examples of his creative imagination, while those meeting him for the first time will encounter his original humorous insights into Israeli culture and modern life, with a touch of science fiction thrown in for good measure.

Time travel, aliens, and alternative realities all make appearances in the stories, while others mirror our lives, showing imaginative reflections of Israel and Israelis. Each of the stories satisfies in its own unique way.

I had previously read many of the book’s stories in the original Hebrew, but translators Cohen and Silverston do an excellent job of showcasing Keret’s humor for English readers. No matter what the language, his stories leave one eager to start the next one. Here are brief descriptions of some of my favorites.

‘A World without Selfie Sticks’ - a life-changing reality show from another world.

'Point of No Return' - the thin line between real life and simulated real life.

'Genesis, Chapter 0' - beyond pain, and boredom, and fear, everything becomes light.

‘For the Woman Who Has Everything’ - for the reader who has read everything, something different.

The stories of Autocorrect are extremely short, but they’ll leave you wanting more. We’re sure to meet the boundless creativity and humor of Etgar Keret again very soon.

Etgar Keret was born in Tel Aviv in 1967. His books have been translated into 37 languages, and he has been published in the New York Times, the Guardian, the New Yorker, Le Monde and other periodicals. Keret has written a number of screenplays; “Jellyfish”, his first film as director alongside his wife Shira Geffen, won the Caméra d’Or prize for best first feature at Cannes in 2007. Keret has received the Chevalier Medallion of France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2010); the Charles Bronfman Prize (2016); and the Sapir Prize for Literature (2018). His short story collection Fly Away won the 2019 National Jewish Book Award for Fiction.

Jessica Cohen is a British-Israeli-American literary translator who shared the 2017 International Booker Prize with author David Grossman for her translation of A Horse Walks into a Bar.

Sondra Silverston is a native New Yorker who has lived in Israel since 1970. She has trans­lat­ed works of Etgar Keret, Ayelet Gun­dar-Goshen, Zeruya Shalev, and Savy­on Liebrecht. Her trans­la­tion of Amos Oz’s Between Friends won the 2013 Nation­al Jew­ish Book Award for fic­tion.

Originally posted on The Times of Israel.