Nov 04 2008
“Shut Up, I’m Talking” by Gregory Levey
Shut Up, I’m Talking (And Other Diplomacy Lessons I Learned in the Israeli Government) by Gregory Levey was a downright hilarious book. I spent at least half of the book laughing uproariously. I think it rather annoyed my husband, actually. 
But here’s the general gist of the book: This is the autobiography of Gregory Levey , who grew up as a secular Jew in Canada. He went to a Jewish school for elementary and junior high, and then went to regular public school for high school. So he was raised somewhat in the Jewish background, although he is atheist and doesn’t believe in the Jewish religion, or in God in general.
Well, he decides as a second-year law student that law school was just way, way too boring, and he wants to go join the Israeli Army (yes, this is rather random, but as you’ll see as you read his book, most of his life seems to be have been rather random. In fact, I’d say that sums up his life in a nutshell: Random). While waiting for his army stint to begin, he decides that he wants to be an intern at the UN for the Israeli government, and so he spends several months trying to do just that. He ends up getting a job as a speech writer instead.
His story proceeds from there, and I don’t want to give everything away so I won’t, but can I just tell you again how darn FUNNY this book is? Usually when I read a book, I try to mark the pages that I think are particularly humorous/heartwarming /touching, or otherwise noteworthy, so I can use the quotes in my review. For Shut Up, I’m Talking, I realized that I would basically have to quote the entire first chapter. But I’m just not that dedicated to this job, sorry.
But I will quote from the introduction (the Author’s Note). Here it is:
As I write this note, things don’t look good in the Middle East. I’m not sure when you’re reading this, but I assume that things still don’t look good in the Middle East, because they never really do. If things looked good in the Middle East, it wouldn’t look like the Middle East. It might look like, say, Canada, with camels.
Having been to the Middle East, and having ridden on a camel, that struck me as particularly funny. Or perhaps my sense of humor has been seriously screwed up by a lack of sleep lately, who knows.
Although this is a great book about the inside workings of the UN and of the Israeli government, it by no means is a definitive book about what is happening in the Middle East. In fact, that is rather the point of the book: The author realizing that there really is no plan when it comes to politics and policy. Everyone in the Israeli government is basically playing it by ear, 24/7. It’s a disheartening, eye-opening, and laughter-inducing book.
I couldn’t put it down. 4.75 out of 5 stars. Great book - I’m hoping this won’t be the last we hear of Gregory Levey.
Hava
Glad I’m not the only one.
I really, really liked the book, and I’m hoping that it starts to get some notice out in the book world, because it’s a rather kickbutt book, if I do say so myself.
And Greg wrote me a rather sweet (but short) email, thanking me for my post. He is a genuinely nice guy, which comes through in his writing. I hate it when I read an autobiography about someone who is simply unlikable.
Hava