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The Parting Gift
"An unabashed tale that does not pull punches and looks at love's underside...This breathless story should only be read in one sitting. It hits hard and never lets up. Terse, brusque, etched on one's inner thigh with an old serrated knife." --Andr� Aciman, author of Call Me by Your Name
This erotic tale of jealousy, obsession, and revenge is suffused with the rich flavors and intoxicating scents of Israel's Mediterranean coast.
An unnamed narrator writes a letter to an old college friend, Adam, with whom he has been staying since his abrupt return to the States from Israel. Now that the narrator is moving on to a new location, he finally reveals the events that led him to Adam's door, set in motion by a chance encounter with Uzi, a spice merchant whose wares had developed a cult following.
From his first meeting with Uzi, the narrator is overwhelmed by an animal attraction that will lead him to derail his life, withdraw from friends and extend his stay in a small town north of Tel Aviv. As he becomes increasingly entangled in Uzi's life--and by extension the lives of Uzi's ex-wife and children--his passion turns sinister, ultimately threatening all around him.
Written in a circuitous style that keeps you guessing until the end, The Parting Gift is a page-turner and a shrewd exploration of the roles men assume, or are forced to assume, as lovers, as fathers, as Israelis, as Palestinians.
This erotic tale of jealousy, obsession, and revenge is suffused with the rich flavors and intoxicating scents of Israel's Mediterranean coast.
An unnamed narrator writes a letter to an old college friend, Adam, with whom he has been staying since his abrupt return to the States from Israel. Now that the narrator is moving on to a new location, he finally reveals the events that led him to Adam's door, set in motion by a chance encounter with Uzi, a spice merchant whose wares had developed a cult following.
From his first meeting with Uzi, the narrator is overwhelmed by an animal attraction that will lead him to derail his life, withdraw from friends and extend his stay in a small town north of Tel Aviv. As he becomes increasingly entangled in Uzi's life--and by extension the lives of Uzi's ex-wife and children--his passion turns sinister, ultimately threatening all around him.
Written in a circuitous style that keeps you guessing until the end, The Parting Gift is a page-turner and a shrewd exploration of the roles men assume, or are forced to assume, as lovers, as fathers, as Israelis, as Palestinians.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published September 4, 2018
29 people are currently reading
489 people want to read
About the author
Evan Fallenberg
19 books26 followersA native of Cleveland, Ohio, Fallenberg is a graduate of Georgetown University and the MFA program in creative writing at Vermont College of Fine Arts and has lived in Israel since 1985. He is coordinator of fiction for the Shaindy Rudoff Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Bar-Ilan University; coordinator of literary translation in the Department of English Literature at Bar-Ilan University; and an instructor in the low-residency MFA program in creative writing at City University of Hong Kong. The recipient of fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, Vermont Studio Center and the National Endowment for the Arts, Fallenberg serves as an advisor to several literary prizes, including the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature. He is the father of two sons.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
April 20, 2021
Like many books I've read recently, The Parting Gift perfectly executes what it sets out to do, even if I personally didn't entirely enjoy the experience of reading it.
Here is a very tight and tense novel of obsessive jealousy, where sexual encounters are battlegrounds, and where sex acts are the way characters exert power over one another. Because this is an epistolary novel everything that happens is filtered through one mind, the mind of a man who is extremely perceptive, and entirely amoral, and obsessively jealous. It is a revenge story, but one where the avenger seems far more morally questionable than those whom he believes have wronged him. This extreme story is set in a suburb of Tel Aviv where relations between Jews and Arabs and in particular Palestinian Arabs come into play in terms of power dynamics and sexual dynamics. The narrator is American and not entirely fluent in Hebrew. His foreign-ness to the dynamics of culture and language add another layer of tension to his narrative. He acts decisively even though he is clearly an outsider who has no reason to be sure of his perceptions of others.
Frequently with books that leave me feeling unhappy and unsettled I'm at a loss about what to do with these silly star ratings but usually I come out thinking if I can honestly say "this book perfectly executes its intention, no matter how I felt about it personally" then I should probably call it a 5-star read.
Here is a very tight and tense novel of obsessive jealousy, where sexual encounters are battlegrounds, and where sex acts are the way characters exert power over one another. Because this is an epistolary novel everything that happens is filtered through one mind, the mind of a man who is extremely perceptive, and entirely amoral, and obsessively jealous. It is a revenge story, but one where the avenger seems far more morally questionable than those whom he believes have wronged him. This extreme story is set in a suburb of Tel Aviv where relations between Jews and Arabs and in particular Palestinian Arabs come into play in terms of power dynamics and sexual dynamics. The narrator is American and not entirely fluent in Hebrew. His foreign-ness to the dynamics of culture and language add another layer of tension to his narrative. He acts decisively even though he is clearly an outsider who has no reason to be sure of his perceptions of others.
Frequently with books that leave me feeling unhappy and unsettled I'm at a loss about what to do with these silly star ratings but usually I come out thinking if I can honestly say "this book perfectly executes its intention, no matter how I felt about it personally" then I should probably call it a 5-star read.
February 19, 2019
Kind of a Middle Eastern 'The Talented Mr. Ripley', this tight, taut short novel delivers in spades while one is reading it, but yet remained somewhat unsatisfying once it was all over. The narrator is not so much unreliable, as not quite in touch with either his own motivations or what is truly happening, and the twists towards the end - although entirely appropriate - still rest uneasy on this reader. Or perhaps the problem was that, having an enormous jealous streak myself, I found the unnamed narrator's obsessions landing a bit too close to home. It's a book that will resonate with me for some time, I suspect.
December 9, 2018
Not erotic per se but surely kind of obsessive and self absorbed. Delusion or not, I'm left wondering, which is part of the charm. I think our narrator only told us what he wanted to and we're left to pick up clues where ever we can. Cleverly done Fallenberg.
While his narrator is shifting here and there, telling us all and hiding what he wants, we also get snapshots inside people's lives. Must remember that it's only a picture and there is much more to delve for.
February 8, 2019
Like a bitter and vengeful version of Call Me By Your Name, this tight novel provides an almost claustrophobic account of the narrator’s passionate, obsessive, erotic months spent with his lover, Uzi.
Written in epistolary form to the unnamed narrator’s college friend, he recalls his doomed relationship with Uzi, a successful spice merchant in Israel. Immediately drawn to Uzi’s gruff nature and brute masculinity, he puts aside everything to be with him and gradually entangles himself with Uzi’s professional and personal life.
As his infatuation with Uzi grows, he begins growing suspicious that Uzi is being unfaithful, and his actions turn to a callous vengefulness fueled by his envy and desire.
This is the ultimate unreliable narrator, and comparisons to Lolita’s Humbert Humbert are certainly earned. It’s fascinating the way he distorts his recollection of events, intent on painting himself as the “good guy” in his own story. Of course, the inclination to do this is deeply human, and that relatability creates a sense of discomfort for the reader.
Complex and morally ambiguous, The Parting Gift is darkly tantalizing both intellectually and on a much more primal level.
Written in epistolary form to the unnamed narrator’s college friend, he recalls his doomed relationship with Uzi, a successful spice merchant in Israel. Immediately drawn to Uzi’s gruff nature and brute masculinity, he puts aside everything to be with him and gradually entangles himself with Uzi’s professional and personal life.
As his infatuation with Uzi grows, he begins growing suspicious that Uzi is being unfaithful, and his actions turn to a callous vengefulness fueled by his envy and desire.
This is the ultimate unreliable narrator, and comparisons to Lolita’s Humbert Humbert are certainly earned. It’s fascinating the way he distorts his recollection of events, intent on painting himself as the “good guy” in his own story. Of course, the inclination to do this is deeply human, and that relatability creates a sense of discomfort for the reader.
Complex and morally ambiguous, The Parting Gift is darkly tantalizing both intellectually and on a much more primal level.
November 14, 2018
You can also find this review
on my book blog.
When it comes to books that feature LGBTQ+ themes I’m all ears so getting a chance to read The Parting Gift was very exciting for me. Oh boy, was this book brilliant! I have to mention the hardcover copy and how brilliantly it was designed. Wow, just wow. Well done Other Press!
The story centers around an unknown narrator who upon coming back from Israel crashes in his friend’s apartment and the book is written in a form of one long letter addressed to that friend, Adam. Since our narrator has found a new location to live in he decides to leave an explanation as to why he came to crash at his place for four months. Our narrator tells Adam the story of Uzi, a spice merchant he met during his trip as well as meeting Uzi’s family, of love, of obsession, of dedication and more.
I think that my summary is enough to read before going in and that’s why I kept it short. I’ve no idea what’s happening lately because I’ve been reading fantastic books – let’s not jinx this because I want to read more fantastic books in the future. I read The Parting Gift in a day because it was so fast-paced and so good that I couldn’t look away. I just made breaks to make more cups of tea. Fallenberg writes so masterfully and keeps your attention at all times and the way he crafted this tale was fantastic. I love how he created the characters in it especially our unknown narrator who is so fascinating and whose psyche I loved examining throughout the book. Unknown narrator is so interesting and his actions made me question many things about him. The story is developed very well and there’s no dull moment in it. If I was to compare this book to other ones I would definitely say that it reminded me of Gone Girl in a way – now I know everything is compared to Gone Girl nowadays but this book really left me with that impression. When I reached the end of The Parting Gift I found myself wanting more and exactly this ability the author has to make the reader want more is what amazes me. I honestly don’t know what else to say because I fear I’ll ruin your experience with this book so just do yourself a favour and pick this book up.
The Parting Gift is a fascinating tale of love, paranoia, jealousy and deviance set in a in a small town north of Tel Aviv.
I would like to thank the publisher Other Press for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions written here are my own and weren’t influenced by anything.
When it comes to books that feature LGBTQ+ themes I’m all ears so getting a chance to read The Parting Gift was very exciting for me. Oh boy, was this book brilliant! I have to mention the hardcover copy and how brilliantly it was designed. Wow, just wow. Well done Other Press!
The story centers around an unknown narrator who upon coming back from Israel crashes in his friend’s apartment and the book is written in a form of one long letter addressed to that friend, Adam. Since our narrator has found a new location to live in he decides to leave an explanation as to why he came to crash at his place for four months. Our narrator tells Adam the story of Uzi, a spice merchant he met during his trip as well as meeting Uzi’s family, of love, of obsession, of dedication and more.
I think that my summary is enough to read before going in and that’s why I kept it short. I’ve no idea what’s happening lately because I’ve been reading fantastic books – let’s not jinx this because I want to read more fantastic books in the future. I read The Parting Gift in a day because it was so fast-paced and so good that I couldn’t look away. I just made breaks to make more cups of tea. Fallenberg writes so masterfully and keeps your attention at all times and the way he crafted this tale was fantastic. I love how he created the characters in it especially our unknown narrator who is so fascinating and whose psyche I loved examining throughout the book. Unknown narrator is so interesting and his actions made me question many things about him. The story is developed very well and there’s no dull moment in it. If I was to compare this book to other ones I would definitely say that it reminded me of Gone Girl in a way – now I know everything is compared to Gone Girl nowadays but this book really left me with that impression. When I reached the end of The Parting Gift I found myself wanting more and exactly this ability the author has to make the reader want more is what amazes me. I honestly don’t know what else to say because I fear I’ll ruin your experience with this book so just do yourself a favour and pick this book up.
The Parting Gift is a fascinating tale of love, paranoia, jealousy and deviance set in a in a small town north of Tel Aviv.
I would like to thank the publisher Other Press for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions written here are my own and weren’t influenced by anything.
November 11, 2018
Huh? That ending? Review to follow. How To Torpedo Your Own Novel.
June 8, 2020
This was a double-charged homoerotic tale of obsessive love, lust, jealousy and revenge, set against a lush Middle Eastern backdrop. The unnamed, unlikeable and wholly unrealiable narrator has composed and left behind this detailed letter to his friend Adam as "a parting gift," explaining the details of his last love affair in Israel with a sexy, elusive man named Uzi. It's a well-crafted and highly engrossing epistolary till the last word. It's what happens when love is and is not reciprocated, the power struggle between lovers and the definition of male entitlement. It's also a cautionary tale of how people ruin one another intentionally or not, although I wouldn't label this a mystery. I love that spices, cooking and fragrances, in general, play such a major role in this naughty book.
October 2, 2018
THE PARTING GIFT is a feverish and hypnotic epistolary novel, and a tantalizing literary treat. While wholly its own creation, readers may feel the influences of Patricia Highsmith (the sense of mounting dread) and Edmund White (the white-hot sexual encounters are salacious, surprising and erotic). An unnamed gay narrator who has been living with his straight college friend for the past four months has decided to move on and, as a parting gift, he's decided to write a letter explaining what brought him to his friend's doorstep.
The narrator drops out of grad school "under highly unpleasant circumstances" just months before graduation. Vacationing with friends in Tel Aviv, he meets Uzi, a roughhewn spice merchant, and immediately seduces him. "We were a mess," he writes, "a heaving, sweating, panting, quivering mess. And I was hooked." Uzi has two ex-wives and five kids (including an anorexic daughter and drug-selling son) but makes room in his home for his new romance. As their relationship builds, however, so does the narrator's mistrust. And this paranoia leads him down dark alleys. As he writes to his college friend: "Jealousy is a dangerous motive, and revenge its sharpest weapon."
Evan Fallenberg (When We Danced on Water) has crafted a haunting, emotionally satisfying and beautifully written story of obsessive love. Few readers will be able to stop reading this short novel before its surprising climax. THE PARTING GIFT's vivid characters and their pyretic emotions make this an incredibly haunting novel.
A haunting, erotic and beautifully written epistolary novel about a gay affair in Tel Aviv that turns into an obsessive quest for revenge.
One complaint: WORST COVER EVER.
The narrator drops out of grad school "under highly unpleasant circumstances" just months before graduation. Vacationing with friends in Tel Aviv, he meets Uzi, a roughhewn spice merchant, and immediately seduces him. "We were a mess," he writes, "a heaving, sweating, panting, quivering mess. And I was hooked." Uzi has two ex-wives and five kids (including an anorexic daughter and drug-selling son) but makes room in his home for his new romance. As their relationship builds, however, so does the narrator's mistrust. And this paranoia leads him down dark alleys. As he writes to his college friend: "Jealousy is a dangerous motive, and revenge its sharpest weapon."
Evan Fallenberg (When We Danced on Water) has crafted a haunting, emotionally satisfying and beautifully written story of obsessive love. Few readers will be able to stop reading this short novel before its surprising climax. THE PARTING GIFT's vivid characters and their pyretic emotions make this an incredibly haunting novel.
A haunting, erotic and beautifully written epistolary novel about a gay affair in Tel Aviv that turns into an obsessive quest for revenge.
One complaint: WORST COVER EVER.
June 16, 2021
3.5/5
A compelling, erotic and twisted little novel that I enjoyed listening to in audio.
'A Parting Gift' is written in an epistolary form to an old university friend the narrator has been shacking up with for a few months. The letter is a confession? recounting? exploration? brag? about the relationship the narrator had with an older spice merchant in Israel.
The unnamed narrator writes about the animalistic sexual attraction between him and his ex-partner that led to an unorthodox relationship and spiralled quickly into a dangerous and jealous obsession. It sounds like a quite basic run-of-the mill story of a narcissist who inevitably destroys their relationship, but Fallenberg weaves in additional social commentary designed to make the reader deeply uncomfortable.
The narrator spends time mediating on masculinity; the politics and power play of sex and relationships; exploitation of and by Arabs and Jews in Israel and the abuse of power in many ways. The snide, sneering and frankly disgusting voice of the unnamed narrator heightens unease while reading. It's a good book if you're looking for something short and challenging - especially if you're a fan of 'transgressive' narrators and characters in your books.
A compelling, erotic and twisted little novel that I enjoyed listening to in audio.
'A Parting Gift' is written in an epistolary form to an old university friend the narrator has been shacking up with for a few months. The letter is a confession? recounting? exploration? brag? about the relationship the narrator had with an older spice merchant in Israel.
The unnamed narrator writes about the animalistic sexual attraction between him and his ex-partner that led to an unorthodox relationship and spiralled quickly into a dangerous and jealous obsession. It sounds like a quite basic run-of-the mill story of a narcissist who inevitably destroys their relationship, but Fallenberg weaves in additional social commentary designed to make the reader deeply uncomfortable.
The narrator spends time mediating on masculinity; the politics and power play of sex and relationships; exploitation of and by Arabs and Jews in Israel and the abuse of power in many ways. The snide, sneering and frankly disgusting voice of the unnamed narrator heightens unease while reading. It's a good book if you're looking for something short and challenging - especially if you're a fan of 'transgressive' narrators and characters in your books.
September 15, 2019
**before I write the review, I want to make clear that this is not a review of the explicit sex scenes, unless stated otherwise. If that's your thing, read up to the first sex scene in this book. And then stop before it gets awful.
This is toxic masculinity masquerading as a mlm romance. When I complained about it to my beau they thought it might be secret antisemitic propaganda. But no. It's genuinely that bad.
The main character is the clear perpetrator here. Without him, this story might be okay. But if you have to start a sentence with "I'm not a pedophile, but" then I have bad news for you. You're a pedophile. The pedophilia wasn't even the worst bit, and that is saying something.
The characterization of "maleness" as putting your penis in anything without thinking of the other person's feelings goes to an extreme. My personal (least) favourite was when he compared maleness to autism in that apparently neither have empathy for other people.
The paranoid, vindictive nature of the narrator, causing everyone misery to get revenge for his imagined slights makes this hard to read in terms of plot. His selfish, hypocritical, self-apologetic nature makes his exposition grimace-worthy. I hope no one reading this considers this a standard or healthy relationship.
This is toxic masculinity masquerading as a mlm romance. When I complained about it to my beau they thought it might be secret antisemitic propaganda. But no. It's genuinely that bad.
The main character is the clear perpetrator here. Without him, this story might be okay. But if you have to start a sentence with "I'm not a pedophile, but" then I have bad news for you. You're a pedophile. The pedophilia wasn't even the worst bit, and that is saying something.
The characterization of "maleness" as putting your penis in anything without thinking of the other person's feelings goes to an extreme. My personal (least) favourite was when he compared maleness to autism in that apparently neither have empathy for other people.
The paranoid, vindictive nature of the narrator, causing everyone misery to get revenge for his imagined slights makes this hard to read in terms of plot. His selfish, hypocritical, self-apologetic nature makes his exposition grimace-worthy. I hope no one reading this considers this a standard or healthy relationship.
January 2, 2022
If a friend left me a parting gift like this one, I’d follow him out the door with a baseball bat.
I won’t restate the setup (well described in other reviews), only offer a couple observations. First, the writing is evocative, swift, brutal even as it alienates us from the narrator page by page. (Aciman’s blurb advises us to read it in one sitting — as I was reading it before bed, it took me four.) Second, I’m impressed by how Fallenberg captures the essentially venal, manipulative moods of the narrator. At first I was on his side, although skeptical. But it didn’t take long (and this is surely deliberate) for me to back off bit by bit – then, as we approach the end, we suddenly lose all respect for the man. It speaks to the power of the writing that we stay with the story until its final insult.
Fallenberg also does a fine job with the other characters, filtered as they are by the narrator’s amoral eros. Each is sharp and pulsing with personality. The hirsute testosterone-splattered main character and the passion at the core of the novel are not credible but they make the rest possible. And really, by the end, do we have any idea what actually happened? I hope not.
I won’t restate the setup (well described in other reviews), only offer a couple observations. First, the writing is evocative, swift, brutal even as it alienates us from the narrator page by page. (Aciman’s blurb advises us to read it in one sitting — as I was reading it before bed, it took me four.) Second, I’m impressed by how Fallenberg captures the essentially venal, manipulative moods of the narrator. At first I was on his side, although skeptical. But it didn’t take long (and this is surely deliberate) for me to back off bit by bit – then, as we approach the end, we suddenly lose all respect for the man. It speaks to the power of the writing that we stay with the story until its final insult.
Fallenberg also does a fine job with the other characters, filtered as they are by the narrator’s amoral eros. Each is sharp and pulsing with personality. The hirsute testosterone-splattered main character and the passion at the core of the novel are not credible but they make the rest possible. And really, by the end, do we have any idea what actually happened? I hope not.
August 28, 2018
I love that this book is written in one chapter as a long letter to a friend. The letter is the author's story of two bisexual men engaged in a hot and steamy relationship, at least for the first half. This story takes place in Israel and the author makes sure you can feel and smell and see the atmosphere and the unique settings in the novel. There are some really, really despicable people in this book who take terrible actions against one another, so your liking of this will depend on how well you can stomach people being terrible to each other.
(A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.)
(A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.)
March 4, 2019
Terrifying and brilliant. Fallenberg had me up late, reading as quickly as I could. The ravages of love, revenge and youth twisted together so I was never sure who to trust and I loved it. Not to mention the delicious descriptions of food and the passion for the land. And wow, Fallenberg knows how to write a sex scene!
August 10, 2022
It’s been a while since I’ve read a book that had me completely hooked like this one. the story is so well written as it tackles many dynamics in relationships such as desire, jealousy, lust, love, and obsession. It’s a great tale about what happens when all those emotions snowball into something quite sinister, in other words revenge. In some ways, this book reminded me of ‘Gone Girl’ due to the endless suspense and how calculating many of the events were. The most interesting part about this book is the fact you question the morality of this unknown narrator more than the actual characters he describe through his truth or lack of.
“closure is rare and revenge is even more rarely sated.”
“closure is rare and revenge is even more rarely sated.”
September 29, 2022
A quick, compelling read. I had no idea what to expect about this one when I found it at the library, except that it was gay because of my library’s lil rainbow sticker. I enjoyed spending some time in this unfamiliar world of erotic Israeli spice dealings but was alternatively a bit disturbed and annoyed by the self-obsessed and paranoid narrator.
September 26, 2018
Picked this up on a whim. I liked the writing and was pulled along. Hard to recommend to others since it feels like it was a perfect little nugget at just the right time but I don't know why I liked it.
February 28, 2019
This book is going to be with me for a while. I felt as though I was watching a train speeding towards inevitable destruction! It’s written beautifully. I’m a bit speechless right now. 😳
March 19, 2024
This one didn’t do it for me. I loved Call me by your name, but this just left me hanging. Beautiful writing and will read more of this Author’s work, but can’t rate this higher then a 3 star.
June 19, 2020
https://thegirlybookclub.com/the-part...
The Parting Gift by Evan Fallenberg is a Fictionalized and intriguing sexually charged LGBTQ story. Or is it, fiction, we wonder? The narrator mentions at the end that names and locations were changed to conceal the identity of the individuals. My initial feeling when I began reading was that this would be a super quirky story. While I was enjoying it, I wasn’t thinking that I would love this book as much as I do now. Quite rapidly the story pulled me in deeply and I could not turn away. The emotional range was both impressive and shocking.
“Jealousy is a dangerous motive”
This entire book is a letter that was written to Adam, who we only get a small glimpse of in pieces through the story. The narrator, who signs off as XXX, walks us through a truly captivating telling of his last relationship from the rapid and intense beginning to the bitter ending. He walks us through his obsession with Uzi, his lover, and how he loses himself completely. The Narrator, while immersing himself in the interests of his entitled partner, begins to grow as a man and as a partner in love and business. The relationship appears to fall apart with the introduction of a younger, handsome son of a business contact. As the events were unfolding I found myself completely torn in half. While I was feeling the pain and anxiety that the narrator was going through I was also hoping for a resolution or compromise and rooting for their love.
I cannot fault this story or this writing in any way. Fallenberg gives you a clear picture of the vibrant characters and transports you to the coastal town of Kritmonia. While the story takes place in Israel, the focus is on the narrator’s journey through this emotionally charged relationship and that period of his life. You get enough background to understand the basic cultural and regional repercussions of being a gay man in Israel but that is not the subject of this book.
If I could choose one complaint, I found myself wanting more. I wanted to know what Adam’s choice was and I want to know what the future holds for XXX. I am so happy I chose to read this book and count it as one of my favorite reads that has touched my heart.
The Parting Gift by Evan Fallenberg is a Fictionalized and intriguing sexually charged LGBTQ story. Or is it, fiction, we wonder? The narrator mentions at the end that names and locations were changed to conceal the identity of the individuals. My initial feeling when I began reading was that this would be a super quirky story. While I was enjoying it, I wasn’t thinking that I would love this book as much as I do now. Quite rapidly the story pulled me in deeply and I could not turn away. The emotional range was both impressive and shocking.
“Jealousy is a dangerous motive”
This entire book is a letter that was written to Adam, who we only get a small glimpse of in pieces through the story. The narrator, who signs off as XXX, walks us through a truly captivating telling of his last relationship from the rapid and intense beginning to the bitter ending. He walks us through his obsession with Uzi, his lover, and how he loses himself completely. The Narrator, while immersing himself in the interests of his entitled partner, begins to grow as a man and as a partner in love and business. The relationship appears to fall apart with the introduction of a younger, handsome son of a business contact. As the events were unfolding I found myself completely torn in half. While I was feeling the pain and anxiety that the narrator was going through I was also hoping for a resolution or compromise and rooting for their love.
I cannot fault this story or this writing in any way. Fallenberg gives you a clear picture of the vibrant characters and transports you to the coastal town of Kritmonia. While the story takes place in Israel, the focus is on the narrator’s journey through this emotionally charged relationship and that period of his life. You get enough background to understand the basic cultural and regional repercussions of being a gay man in Israel but that is not the subject of this book.
If I could choose one complaint, I found myself wanting more. I wanted to know what Adam’s choice was and I want to know what the future holds for XXX. I am so happy I chose to read this book and count it as one of my favorite reads that has touched my heart.
June 16, 2020
"...take it from me, a man with a record in the crimes of love: Promises will be broken and vows will be trampled and feelings will be hurt - oh, far worse than that. Where love is concerned the rules are not written in books of statutes but they exist all the same, and they are unbending."
"I was drawing it in through my nostrils and holding it there, letting it shoot straight into my limbic system, that ancient part of the brain where memory and emotion and lust and smell get entangled."
__
I would not recommend this book to anyone looking to enjoy their reading!
It is a well-written and thought-provoking book that starts off good and interesting, but then quickly goes downhill... Overall, bad plot and awful characters. Quite a number of problematic issues are at hand and are not resolved in a healthy way (including toxic male identity, problematic gender role ideals, sexism, unhealthy relationships, abuse of power dynamics, sexual abuse, and more).
"I was drawing it in through my nostrils and holding it there, letting it shoot straight into my limbic system, that ancient part of the brain where memory and emotion and lust and smell get entangled."
__
I would not recommend this book to anyone looking to enjoy their reading!
It is a well-written and thought-provoking book that starts off good and interesting, but then quickly goes downhill... Overall, bad plot and awful characters. Quite a number of problematic issues are at hand and are not resolved in a healthy way (including toxic male identity, problematic gender role ideals, sexism, unhealthy relationships, abuse of power dynamics, sexual abuse, and more).
October 21, 2020
The Parting Gift by Evan Fallenberg opens with the main character writing a letter to his friend, Adam, explaining why he showed up unexpectedly four months ago looking for a place to stay. In this letter he recounts what happened after he quit grad school and moved to Israel. What follows is a lurid description about his surprise, intense sexual attraction and all-consuming, obsessive relationship with Uzi, a hyper masculine and emotionally detached spice farmer on the coast of the Mediterranean. As the passion fizzles, unrequited love leads to jealousy and resentment. The book is well written and intensely sexual but my strong dislike for both the narrator influenced my overall review.
The book is often compared to Call Me By Your Name, but in Aciman's novel I was able to relate and truly empathize with both main characters whereas in this book I came to dislike them both (narrator and Uzi).
The book is often compared to Call Me By Your Name, but in Aciman's novel I was able to relate and truly empathize with both main characters whereas in this book I came to dislike them both (narrator and Uzi).
April 14, 2021
Told in letter form, by an unnamed narrator we are given the circumstances of what drove the young narrator to flee Israel & seek refuge in his friend Adam’s US home. Shifty and dark, it’s hard to root for our narrator whose actions are questionable 🤨 I think I liked this book but I hesitate to recommend it!
October 17, 2018
The action of the novel takes place in the past and is being told by the flawed character in a letter to his possible love interest. The depth of jealousy and revenge is detailed of the character's past relationship. Valuable read and thought provoking.
April 25, 2019
An interesting read and great characters. At times so frustrating to read as you just want to the characters but a good reminder of how jealousy and insecurity can ruin someone.
March 20, 2020
Quick read, interesting book, but not a likeable protagonist.
May 4, 2024
There’s a lot of sex in The Parting Gift by Evan Fallenberg (Other Press, September 4, 2018). Let’s start with that. Excessive, graphic, homoerotic sex which may turn off many readers. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let us consider where this vividly described sexuality leads its narrator-protagonist—an unnamed Jewish American currently camped on his friend Adam’s couch after returning from an extended stay in Israel.
In a book-length letter to Adam, the narrator offers a “long-overdue explanation of my mysterious appearance at your door these four months ago.”
The story the narrator tells starts at a Tel Aviv absorption center but veers in an unexpected direction after a visit to a nursery housing Israel’s most extensive collection of herbs and spices. There he meets Uzi, the spice guy.
“He was going about his business with no mind to me, while I was going about his business with no mind to myself,” the narrator explains. It is a case of lust at first sight. For the narrator, same-sex relations are nothing new but for Uzi, apparently, this greenhouse encounter is a first-time experience.
What follows is a relationship that starts out wholly sexual, but which swiftly develops into a live-in business partnership. The narrator studies his lover’s spices, learns how to cook with them, and then implements new ways to market them. Yet, the sensual nature of his endeavors is never far from mind. “Everything I cooked with an earthiness and sensuality I never knew food could possess. I swear there were times I wanted to bottle Uzi’s essence and cook with it.”
Along the way, the narrator meets Nina, Uzi’s ex-wife, who happens to live next door, as well as his three children. The eldest, Rinat, has an eating disorder of the type that can, unfortunately, accompany young troubled girls into adulthood. The narrator is privy to some of Rinat’s secrets but his friendship with the girl can’t prevent her from falling victim to the ugly side of sex addiction. And there is Ziad, the Palestinian day worker who will do anything, literally, to support his family.
The supporting cast of the story is described so realistically that we can easily picture what they look like and what they are thinking, but it’s the main character’s changing perspective on his relationship with Uzi that keeps us glued to the page. What started as love transforms into possessiveness and jealousy, and then ominously into a fatal attraction of obsession and explosive revenge.
We had been warned about the narrator’s character right from the start. He describes himself in his letter to Adam as “a man with a record in the crimes of love: Promises will be broken and vows will be trampled and feelings will be hurt—oh, far worse than that.”
But like Adam, as readers we must “assemble these facts ... lay them in their proper places, line them up until they are there and you can make sense of them.”
The ‘parting gift’ mentioned in the novel’s title has multiple meanings. It refers not only to the explanatory letter written to the narrator’s friend but also to the narrator’s departure from his partnership with ‘the spice guy’. And for us, the readers, The Parting Gift is a well-written, compelling novel with a bold narrative that explores the frailty of human relationships, same-sex and otherwise.
In a book-length letter to Adam, the narrator offers a “long-overdue explanation of my mysterious appearance at your door these four months ago.”
The story the narrator tells starts at a Tel Aviv absorption center but veers in an unexpected direction after a visit to a nursery housing Israel’s most extensive collection of herbs and spices. There he meets Uzi, the spice guy.
“He was going about his business with no mind to me, while I was going about his business with no mind to myself,” the narrator explains. It is a case of lust at first sight. For the narrator, same-sex relations are nothing new but for Uzi, apparently, this greenhouse encounter is a first-time experience.
What follows is a relationship that starts out wholly sexual, but which swiftly develops into a live-in business partnership. The narrator studies his lover’s spices, learns how to cook with them, and then implements new ways to market them. Yet, the sensual nature of his endeavors is never far from mind. “Everything I cooked with an earthiness and sensuality I never knew food could possess. I swear there were times I wanted to bottle Uzi’s essence and cook with it.”
Along the way, the narrator meets Nina, Uzi’s ex-wife, who happens to live next door, as well as his three children. The eldest, Rinat, has an eating disorder of the type that can, unfortunately, accompany young troubled girls into adulthood. The narrator is privy to some of Rinat’s secrets but his friendship with the girl can’t prevent her from falling victim to the ugly side of sex addiction. And there is Ziad, the Palestinian day worker who will do anything, literally, to support his family.
The supporting cast of the story is described so realistically that we can easily picture what they look like and what they are thinking, but it’s the main character’s changing perspective on his relationship with Uzi that keeps us glued to the page. What started as love transforms into possessiveness and jealousy, and then ominously into a fatal attraction of obsession and explosive revenge.
We had been warned about the narrator’s character right from the start. He describes himself in his letter to Adam as “a man with a record in the crimes of love: Promises will be broken and vows will be trampled and feelings will be hurt—oh, far worse than that.”
But like Adam, as readers we must “assemble these facts ... lay them in their proper places, line them up until they are there and you can make sense of them.”
The ‘parting gift’ mentioned in the novel’s title has multiple meanings. It refers not only to the explanatory letter written to the narrator’s friend but also to the narrator’s departure from his partnership with ‘the spice guy’. And for us, the readers, The Parting Gift is a well-written, compelling novel with a bold narrative that explores the frailty of human relationships, same-sex and otherwise.
November 11, 2019
This review was first published in August 2018 at Entropy - see the original at https://entropymag.org/the-drama-of-s...
THE DRAMA OF SEXUAL POLITICS: EVAN FALLENBERG’S “THE PARTING GIFT”
Evan Fallenberg’s The Parting Gift is a slim, riveting novel that takes us deep into the classic themes of love, attraction, jealousy, and revenge. Though it has at its heart the story of a relationship between two men, the story succeeds in shedding a fascinating light on the meaning of gender, both male and female, and the way in which sexuality lies deep in the subconscious, shaping and dictating what it is that we want and need from our lovers.
It’s a sharp, short, streamlined text, compelling and vividly readable from the first sentence, and falling easily into that category of books which are “difficult to put down.”
The narrator, a young American who remains unnamed through the book, has shown up at the home of Adam, an old friend from college. Adam, together with his girlfriend Beth, have offered him their hospitality without asking for a word of explanation, and now, several months later, as he is about to move on, he bestows on Adam the “parting gift” of a letter detailing the circumstances that led him to his door.
The story that unfolds begins simply. The narrator has arrived in Israel after abruptly leaving his graduate studies program under “unpleasant circumstances, a few months shy of graduation.” Because his mother is an Israeli expat, he is immediately eligible for citizenship. He is given temporary housing in Tel Aviv, enjoys the charms of the city, and signs up for a Hebrew course. In the course of a weekend car trip with some fellow students, they stop at a “The Spice Guy”, a herb and spice shop run out of a chicken coop overlooking the sea. It is here that he first sets eyes on Uzi, the shop’s owner, as he’s repairing a lawn mower:
"He grabbed a T-shirt and as he turned to face me he took off his hat and mopped the top of his bald head. The hair under his arm was light, almost blond, and I could smell him. Oh yes, I could definitely smell him and everything that eventually happened may have started at that particular moment, with the scent of him rolling off in waves and wafting under my untested nose."
The narrator doesn’t return to Tel Aviv with his friends. Enthralled by Uzi’s physical presence, he remains in the shop and with scarcely a word exchanged between the two, seduces him:
"You must read on, Adam, there can be no turning back. And I must describe for you, at this important moment in my story, quite precisely what transpired and how it transpired, and, if I am able, what it all meant…you must assemble these facts that I am handing you like tools in a toolbox, you must lay them in their proper places, line them up until they are all there and you can make sense of them."
This passage is in fact an invitation to the reader as well. It should be said that the sexual encounters in the book, all of which solely involve men, are vivid, graphic, and replete with physical and emotional detail. Though they may at first seem gratuitous, these descriptions are not there for titillation or voyeuristic purposes (though, for some readers, they might be that as well). They serve as a trajectory into the beating heart of the book, which delves into questions of male entitlement, the dynamics of sex, and how the two are related.
The narrator moves into Uzi’s home in an agricultural village near the sea and slips fluidly into the roles of lover, companion, and cook. He builds relationships with Uzi’s ex-wife, Nina, who lives next store, and his children, particularly his troubled 18 year old daughter. He implements marketing programs for Uzi’s business, turning him into a minor celebrity and making the shop into an entrepreneurial success.
All seems to be going well, until during a business trip to an Arab spice dealer, Uzi arranges for the man’s son, Ibrahim, to move into a room behind the shop and work as an apprentice. Ibrahim is young, sophisticated and attractive, and it soon appears that Uzi has taken him as a lover. It is at this point that the narrator begins to consider the dynamics of his relationship with Uzi. He already feels that something is lacking. When, during one of their conversations, Nina describes Uzi as “entitled”, he is startled to find himself in absolute agreement. Reconsidering their relationship, he realizes:
"His sense of entitlement would affect everything between us, always, because the only way to live with a person of such inflated entitlement was to deny entitlement in oneself entirely. And what was the opposite of entitlement? Disenfranchisement was the first word that came to mind, and it clearly fit me like a tailored suit."
If this sounds like a woman complaining about her boyfriend or husband, it’s because this is precisely the issue that Fallenberg is raising. But he doesn’t stop there, because in his eyes, the dynamic is even more primal – related to the conceits of the sexual act itself. Sex, by definition, involves one partner penetrating and the other being penetrated. In a homosexual relationship partners may exchange these roles. Yet Uzi refuses the “passive” position and this refusal gives rise to an interesting sort of empathy with women’s sexuality:
"…one person penetrates another’s body, one person inserts a piece of himself, quite intrusively, into someone else, even leaves a part of himself there as a reminder; a marking of territory the spoils of war…women do this day in day out. It’s incredible. And like me, I’m sure some of them want it some of the time, but eventually, not much more than that."
Yet even as the narrator complains about Uzi’s self-centered, ego-centric behavior, these are qualities that he is not free of himself. Filled with resentment and jealousy, he meticulously plots his revenge, with not a thought for effect his actions will have on his victims. Male entitlement indeed.
Set in Israel, against the backdrop of the sights, smells, taste, and histories of the people who inhabit it, this is a book that shows Israelis and Arabs in a fresh, unsentimental light. The politics of the region, so complex and intense that they could overtake the narrative, provide a subtle undertone, a background against which the actual, flesh and blood story plays out.
The book has evoked favorable comparisons with Lolita and Rebecca in that we find ourselves identifying, even as we wince, with a skewed view of the world. The prose, like the narrator, is pointed, unforgiving, tight, single-minded. This slim volume could be read in one long, intriguing sitting, leaving the reader to come away with fresh perspectives on the drama of sexual politics.
December 27, 2018
The Parting Gift is a firecracker of a book, the likes of which I’ve never read. In this epistolary novel, an unnamed narrator describes the events that have led him to living on the couch of a college friend. We know the narrator left graduate school “under highly unpleasant circumstances” and had decided on a fresh start in Israel but has abruptly returned to the US. Spellbound by a chance encounter with an Israeli spice merchant named Uzi, the narrator derails his new plans to embark on an all-consuming love affair.
Told with amazing sensory details, at times mouth-watering and at times pungent, the narrator shops and cooks and becomes a helpmate in every way to the spice merchant, wending his way into the lives of Uzi’s children, ex-wives and business associates. As in life, the honeymoon period of red-hot passion does not last long, and as we get to know the narrator, new layers of his character are revealed.
Throughout, the prose is suggestive, sexy, at turns threatening and manipulative – comparisons to Lolita are apt – and compels the reader to keep turning the pages. The author also does a great job at spanning the cultural divides of an American, an Israeli spice merchant, a Palestinian laborer, and a well-off Israeli Arab.
This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in themes of modern masculinity, identity, jealousy, and betrayal. PS – For book club coordinators: this novel will spark a great discussion IMHO!
Told with amazing sensory details, at times mouth-watering and at times pungent, the narrator shops and cooks and becomes a helpmate in every way to the spice merchant, wending his way into the lives of Uzi’s children, ex-wives and business associates. As in life, the honeymoon period of red-hot passion does not last long, and as we get to know the narrator, new layers of his character are revealed.
Throughout, the prose is suggestive, sexy, at turns threatening and manipulative – comparisons to Lolita are apt – and compels the reader to keep turning the pages. The author also does a great job at spanning the cultural divides of an American, an Israeli spice merchant, a Palestinian laborer, and a well-off Israeli Arab.
This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in themes of modern masculinity, identity, jealousy, and betrayal. PS – For book club coordinators: this novel will spark a great discussion IMHO!
Read
June 22, 2020Evan Fallenberg’s third novel may be his best. A page-turner from beginning to end, The Parting Gift is written with exacting detail, a riveting plot, and characters of incredible depth. An epistolary work, the story follows the unnamed narrator as he makes a move to Israel, becomes the obsessed lover of a gruff, hyper-masculine spice farmer, Uzi, and as he slowly integrates into Uzi’s life, work, and family. Jealousy, lust, and ambition drive the thrilling, fast-pace plot.
Like Fallenberg’s other novels, the book discusses the intersection of Judaism, gender, and sexuality. Though the back-cover calls the novel an “erotic tale,” I cannot exactly classify this book (which does have erotic scenes) as a run-of-the-mill romance, nor should it be classified as ‘erotica,’ as the generic name may imply simplistic smut. The book is dynamic and thematically complex, dealing with power, masculinity, family, and desire.
If you’re in need of a quick and engrossing read, I cannot recommend this novel enough.
Like Fallenberg’s other novels, the book discusses the intersection of Judaism, gender, and sexuality. Though the back-cover calls the novel an “erotic tale,” I cannot exactly classify this book (which does have erotic scenes) as a run-of-the-mill romance, nor should it be classified as ‘erotica,’ as the generic name may imply simplistic smut. The book is dynamic and thematically complex, dealing with power, masculinity, family, and desire.
If you’re in need of a quick and engrossing read, I cannot recommend this novel enough.
June 23, 2019
This is one dark tale of sexual obsession. Refreshingly, it avoids the tired trope of some hidden clinical and unambiguous psychosis lurking behind the obsessor's facade of a seemingly perfect partner. Rather, Evan Fallenberg constructs a narrator whose humanity is much more complex. He is flawed in ways that suggest the aimlessness and impulsivity of youth and privilege rather than diagnosable psychological disturbance. This reader even imagined he was in the process of trying to find some meaningful purpose and identity in the midst of this animal sexual attraction between him and the enigmatic Uzi. As a result, it's easy to buy into what turns out to be the narrator's wild misperception of events. By the time he describes the actions he took in reaction to these misperceptions, the reader (this reader, anyway) is finally more aware than he is himself. Audible gasps ensued during the reading of the final pages of this nearly perfect work of fiction.
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