by Amos Oz

Amos Oz (1938- ) was born Amos Klausner in Jerusalem to Jewish parents of Eastern European and Central European origins. He lived on a kibbutz and in Jerusalem when it was a divided city, later using both as settings in his stories. Oz earned a Bachelor’s degree in philosophy and literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1963, then earned a Master’s degree from Oxford University in England in 1970. In 1965, he published his first book, Artzot ha-tan (Where the Jackals Howl, 1981), a collection of short stories about life on a kibbutz. He followed this with his first novel, Makom aher (1966; Elsewhere Perhaps), and two years later with the novel that would catapult him to fame—My Michael. Oz’s subsequent novels include La-ga`at ba-mayim, la-ga`at ba-ruah (1973; Touch the Water, Touch the Wind, 1974), Kufsah shehorah (1986; Black Box, 1988) and Panter ba-martef (1995; Panther...