Daniel Artovsky's intriguing debut novella is a hot coal. The hero of the novella is Jean the Parisian, a man who committed a terrible act in the past, and who will commit a terrible act in the future. Between sighs and gunshots, he leads his readers through the tangle of his thoughts and confesses his actions. They only seem contradictory and unacceptable to us. For Jean, this is the only possible reality. It is the confession of a criminal who is unable to hide anything, a consciousness that is unable to escape from itself, except by justifying itself. Artovsky, a fearless young writer who is ready and willing to correspond with Russian modernism, has composed a hair-raising confession of a man for whom malice and venom are vital forces. Editing: Navit Barel