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In the Belly of the Whale
- Author
- Ruth Margalit
- Narrator
- Laurence Bouvard
- Publisher
- Pushkin Press
- Publish Date
- 22 September 2026
- Run Time
- 9 hours 51 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Genre
- Religion and politics, Memoirs
What to expect
For more than a decade, Ruth Margalit has been chronicling life in contemporary Israel for
The New Yorker and the
New York Times
Magazine as the country has embraced right-wing extremism under Benjamin Netanyahu.
Here she collects ten of her profiles of wide-ranging figures from across society, returning to consider and update them as a writer and mother living in Tel Aviv at a time of war.
Richly reported and animated by a novelist's eye for detail and drama, Margalit's writing is distinguished by its political acuity and narrative sweep. Kaleidoscopic in scope and poignant in its portrait of a country in turmoil,
In the Belly of the Whale traces an unforgettable journey through present-day Israel.
Critics Review
-
Ruth Margalit has given us a brilliant portrait of a tortured country in the throes of change. The questions tearing at Israel today are grave and existential, but the characters assembled here are so well drawn that they seem to come out of a family drama. It's hard to imagine a better book on modern Israel.
Dexter Filkins, author of The Forever War
-
Future generations must read this book to understand the time in which we lived. Ruth Margalit is one of those rare, dogged reporters who renders real lives with the subtle beauty and pain of fiction. Her portrait of Israeli society is intimate, humane, and haunting.
Evan Osnos, author of The Haves and Have-Yachts
-
Captures the personal within the political, offering rare insight.
Unholy Podcast, Hosted by Yonit Levi and Jonathan Freedland
-
Margalit has a wonderful literary ear, a true reader's sensibility, which shines through when she writes. . . [Her work] reaffirmed the notion that personal narratives can elicit the most powerful writing.
Vela Magazine
User Reviews
No reviews yet.
Details
- Author
- Ruth Margalit
- Narrator
- Laurence Bouvard
- Duration
- 9 hours 51 minutes
- Release Date
- 22 September 2026
- ISBN
- 9781807760526
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Pushkin Press
- Genre
- Religion and politics, Memoirs
Synopsis
For more than a decade, Ruth Margalit has been chronicling life in contemporary Israel for The New Yorker and the New York Times Magazine as the country has embraced right-wing extremism under Benjamin Netanyahu. Here she collects ten of her profiles of wide-ranging figures from across society, returning to consider and update them as a writer and mother living in Tel Aviv at a time of war. Richly reported and animated by a novelist's eye for detail and drama, Margalit's writing is distinguished by its political acuity and narrative sweep. Kaleidoscopic in scope and poignant in its portrait of a country in turmoil, In the Belly of the Whale traces an unforgettable journey through present-day Israel.
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