Everything is Illuminated

Everything Is Illuminated is Jonathan Safran Foer's bestselling novel of a search for truth,published as a Penguin Essential for the first time.The inspiration for the Liev Schreiber film, starring Elijah WoodA young man arrives in the Ukraine, clutching in his hand a tattered photograph. He is searching for the woman who fifty years ago saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Unfortunately, he is aided in his quest by Alex, a translator with an uncanny ability to mangle English into bizarre new forms; a ""blind"" old man haunted by memories of the war; and an undersexed guide dog named Sammy Davis Jr, Jr. What they are looking for seems elusive -- a truth hidden behind veils of time, language and the horrors of war.What they find turns all their worlds upside down . . .'An astonishing feat of writing: hilariously funny and deeply serious, a gripping narrative. Extraordinary'The Times'One of the most impressive novel debuts of recent years'Joyce Carol Oates, The Times Literary Supplement'A first novel of startling originality'Jay McInerney, Observer'Showy, smart. Made me laugh a lot' Susan Sontag, The Times Literary Supplement'It seems hard to believe that such a young writer can have such a deep understanding of both comedy and tragedy' Erica Wagner, The Times'A box of treasures' LA Times''Funny, life affirming, brilliant' Esquire