Saturday’s Book: The Coincidence Makers by Yoav Blum

Peeking at the sunset over the entrance to Kiryat Ono
Peeking at the sunset over the entrance to Kiryat Ono

What a fun book!

My apologies to those of you who don’t read Hebrew, I sincerely hope this book will be translated soon!

This book takes a novel and humorous approach to the romantic tale. The main characters are “Coincidence Makers” – beings who look like people but are in fact in charge of creating the situations we call coincidences. It takes meticulous research and careful planning to create a perfect “coincidence”. Coincidences that cause two people to cross paths, some that lead to major discoveries in medicine or even getting someone fired so as to get him/her to move on to do what he/she always wanted but was too afraid to try.

But the best part of it all, for me, was how Blum treats it like a serious profession and gives excerpts from the Coincidence Makers’ textbooks and exams (you have to study to be certified) which clearly poke fun at familiar things from college entrance exams and course material.

There are also official Imaginary Friends…

I also enjoyed the way he described situations, supposedly seriously but then with a twist of phrase that made me chuckle.

As I said – a fun read!

P.S. It turns out the author lives in Kiryat Ono, just like I do! If you’ve forgotten the wonders that can be found in our little corner of the world, see here.

 

 

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