The Ministry of Special Cases

About the Novel

From its unforgettable opening scene in a forgotten cemetery in Buenos Aires, Nathan Englander's debut novel The Ministry of Special Cases casts a powerful spell. In the heart of Argentina's Dirty War, Kaddish Poznan struggles with a son who won't accept him; strives for a wife who forever saves him; and spends his nights protecting the good name of a community that denies his existence. When the nightmare of the disappeared children brings the Poznan family to its knees, they are thrust into the unyielding corridors of the Ministry of Special Cases, a terrifying, byzantine refuge of last resort. Through the devastation of a single family, Englander brilliantly captures the grief of a nation. (Alfred A. Knopf)

About the Author

Nathan Englander is a bestselling author at the very forefront of contemporary American fiction. Englander's short fiction has appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, and numerous anthologies including The Best American Short Stories, The O. Henry Prize Stories, and The Pushcart Prize. His story collection For the Relief of Unbearable Urges earned him a PEN/Faulkner Malamud Award and the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Englander's most recent collection of short stories, What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, published in 2012, was the winner of the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. (Alfred A. Knopf)

Copyright@2007 by Nathan Englander

Links:

The NY Times Sunday Book Review
The Daily Beast Interview with Englander
Nathan Englander on the Moth Radio Hour (audio)