Reddit mentions of The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God & Other Stories

There's obviously famous writers like Franz Kafka and Philip Roth, but of a more modern twist there is a new Israeli author more known for his short stories Etgar Keret. "The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God & Other Stories" was a really good read.

https://www.amazon.com/Bus-Driver-Wanted-Other-Stories/dp/159463324X

hm, well short stories are generally my go to for lighter reading so I'll recommend a few of those.

Always looking to promote Italo Calvino; desert island picks would probably be Invisible Cities and Cosmicomics. The Baron in the Trees, while not resembling the first two in vignette formatting, also bears mentioning as a personal favorite. Calvino does what some derisively refer to as "magical realism" in the most elegant way. The word economy that he can employ in a description to give a character real depth is utterly stunning.

If that's not your jam, Etgar Keret is also fantastic - in addition to being woefully under appreciated in the states. He writes a lot of "sudden fiction," a vaguely campy term for really short short-fiction; it's dark stuff though, sort of like an Israeli Franz Kafka who watched the Simpsons and read Pynchon. Girl on the Fridge and The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God are excellent collections to start with.

I mention him last because he's probably the most famous but Haruki Murakami is a perennial favorite of mine, The Elephant Vanishes being a lovely collection of short stories. Were I not in this subreddit, I'd forgo mentioning that this is one of the books that lives in my washroom on the toilet tank, but I'm sure my fellow crohnies will understand.

Hope there are a couple suggestions there that are new to you, happy reading.