Slightly surreal and gently melancholic

That taste, combined with Keret's pugnaciousness, has gotten him into some scrapes in Israel. Right-wing members of the Knesset called for the cancellation of a comedy show Keret writes for because it featured a sketch, written by Keret, in which an Israeli delegation attempts to persuade a judge at a German track meet to allow the Israeli runner to run a shorter race. After all, they argue, the runner's parents were Holocaust victims. Keret, both of whose parents survived the Holocaust, tells me that, for him, the sketch was political discourse, a response to the politicians who have used what people like his parents went through for political expediency.

Keret sees a pressure on Israeli artists to address the situation in the Middle East. The problem, Keret said, is that he doesn't want to "lose my ability to communicate with anybody who's not in my tribe. Some places you need people to lead. Other places you need people to confuse those who are leading. Being a writer," he added with a wry grin, "I'm not extremely good at living. So I say, 'OK, this is what I have to give.' This causes a lot of antagonism and friction."

What, for instance, does he say to those who ask him why he's wearing orange? "I say I'm a supporter of the Dutch soccer team."