Uggs for Gaza

“After a few drinks, Mitch gleaned that Rafe and Joey were “just friends,” which he found encouraging. Less encouraging—downright puzzling, really—was when the conversation turned to environmental concerns, or their version of them. Rafe was dating a girl who studied the effects of secondhand smoke on cats. Joey’s niece just had a particular kind of bat mitzvah.

“You’ll never guess the theme,” she said.

Mitch said, mildly, “Judaism?”

“Nope. Sustainability. They got hybrid buses to take the kids from the synagogue to the reception and everything was super-organic. Even the plates and the forks were like this bamboo that’s really fair trade and environmentally friendly. Get this: the yarmulkes were made in Israel from recycled materials. Isn’t that awesome?”

In the coming weeks, Mitch would often cast his thoughts back to this moment, looking to understand his motivation for what he did next.” (From the title story)

If you’d like to know just exactly what Mitch did do next…check out Buddha-killer Gordon Haber’s new collection of short stories, Uggs for Gaza (Dutch Kills Press). It’s a book that the JTA says you should not “pass over,” whether you find the title “intriguing, irksome or inspired.” We here at KtB are long-time fans of Gordon’s darkly hilarious and haunting nonfiction and fiction, and of his Dutch Kills Press, our collaborator in producing KtB e-books.” We vote “inspired,” but you be the judge.