Matti Friedman's 2016 book Pumpkinflowers was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book and as one of Amazon's 10 Best Books of the Year. It was selected as one of the year's best by Booklist, Mother Jones, Foreign Affairs, the National Post, and the Globe and Mail. It also won the Vine Award in Canada. Matti's first book, The Aleppo Codex won the 2014 Sami Rohr Prize, the ALA's Sophie Brody Medal, and the Canadian Jewish Book Award for history and was translated into seven languages. Friedman's work as a reporter has taken him from Israel to Lebanon, Morocco, Moscow, the Caucasus, and Washington, DC, and his writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, The Atlantic, the Washington Post, and elsewhere. A former Associated Press correspondent, Friedman is a regular contributor to Tablet Magazine and the Jewish Review of Books. He grew up in Toronto and now lives with his family in Jerusalem.
"In Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier's Story Mr. Friedman has written a
top-notch account of this under-analyzed war, persuasively arguing
that it heralded a new style of combat in the Middle East, though
no one knew it at the time." --Jennifer Senior, The New York
Times
"This superb book is partly a history of the war, partly a personal
memoir, and partly a work of political analysis. But mainly it is
an effort to tell the story of the young men who fought to defend
something "the size of a basketball court"--not all of whom
survived. Pumpkinflowers is rich enough to allow different readers
to draw their own political conclusions, if they choose to draw
them at all. Above all, it is a book about young men transformed by
war, written by a veteran whose dazzling literary gifts gripped my
attention from the first page to the last." --Bret Stephens, The
Wall Street Journal
"Sober and striking...on par with Tim O'Brien's "The Things They
Carried" - its Israeli analog." --The New York Times Book
Review
..".phenomenal...extremely moving..." --Bari Weiss, The Wall Street
Journal
..".compelling..."
--Parade.com
"Matti Friedman's powerful memoir of his IDF service in Lebanon in
the late-'90s foreshadows the complexities of 21st-century
warfare." --The New York Jewish Week
"Pumpkinflowers is a beautifully written, gut-wrenching book. ... a
poetic account of an Israeli army veteran's time in southern
Lebanon." --Shelf Awareness
"Friedman, a journalist and author of "The Aleppo Codex," writes
with great feeling and insight.... The author's account of military
life transcends the particulars of this tale." --Christian Science
Monitor
"Powerful account of youthful Israelis maturing, fighting, and
dying at a forgotten Lebanon outpost. In this limber, deceptively
sparse take on the Middle East's tightening spiral of violence,
Friedman combines military history and personal experience on and
off the line in deft, observant prose. The narrative is reminiscent
of novels by Denis Johnson and Robert Stone, linking combat's
violent absurdity to the traumatized perspectives of individual
participants. A haunting yet wry tale of young people at war,
cursed by political forces beyond their control, that can stand
alongside the best narrative nonfiction coming out of Afghanistan
and Iraq." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Remarkably educational and heartfelt: Friedman's experiences
provide a critical historical perspective on the changing climate
of war in the Middle East, shifting from short official conflicts
into longer unwinnable wars full of guerilla tactics and the
deliberate creation of media narratives and images. His lyrical
writing, attention to detail, and personal honesty draw the reader
into empathy along with understanding. Friedman's memoir deserves
wide readership." --Publishers Weekly, starred review
"fast and engaging... A compelling war memoir containing elements
of terror, observation, boredom, and grim (at times absurd) humor.
This is an excellent read..." --Library Journal, starred review
"A compelling narrative, freighted with explosive geopolitical
implications." --Booklist, starred review
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