A Day in the Life of Abed Salama

A deeply immersive portrait of daily life in Israel and the West Bank arranged around the story of a Palestinian child and a school trip that ends in tragedy following a traffic accident. Weaving together the ordinary and interwoven lives of Jewish and Palestinian inhabitants, Thrall, a Jerusalem-based author and journalist, illuminates the complex realities of one of the world’s most contested regions -- The Best Books to Understand the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict * Financial Times *
Nathan Thrall’s searing new book, A Day in the Life of Abed Salama, struck me as important even before the obscene massacres and mass kidnappings committed by Hamas this month lit the Middle East on fire. Today, with people still struggling to understand the contours of this deeply complicated conflict, the book seems essential -- Michelle Goldberg * New York Times *
Shows humanity on both sides… The author writes coolly, carefully, without rhetoric or invective. He does not claim neutrality — the daily humiliations of Israeli occupation thud like a drumbeat on every page — but he avoids arm-twisting reportage or cartoonish history. No one portrayed here lacks humanity or complexity… quietly heartbreaking… a galloping narrative of hope and dread -- Boyd Tonkin * Financial Times *
A compelling work of nonfiction, a book that is by turns deeply affecting and, in its concluding chapters, as tense as a thriller…. not only a meticulously detailed account of one event but perhaps the clearest picture yet of the reality of daily life in the occupied territories -- Jonathan Freedland * Guardian *
This quietly heartbreaking work of non-fiction reads like a novel. At its centre is a tragic road accident outside Jerusalem in the West Bank from which Thrall, a Jewish American journalist, carefully traces the labyrinthine lives of those involved and the tangled web of politics, history and culture that ensnare them all -- Carl Wilkinson * Financial Times Best Books of 2023, Literary Non-Fiction *
Part history, journalism, diatribe and lament, the book builds a relentless case that this crash and the ensuing trauma must be remembered * Economist, Best Books of 2023 *
Chronicles the asymmetry in the occupied West Bank today that its main character cannot reverse. It is one of the most effective presentations of quotidian injustice I have read, precisely because the story Thrall narrates is not a matter of the gory violence that has become so prevalent in the region since -- Samuel Moyn * New Statesman Best Books of the Year 2023 *
A compelling and detailed account of a small tragedy in the West Bank that illuminates the larger tragedy of Palestinians living under occupation. Thrall tells the story of a bus accident that killed six children and a teacher — and how their lives were shaped and constrained by Israeli policy, leading indirectly to their deaths -- Gideon Rachman * Financial Times Best Books of the Year 2023, Politics *
Nathan Thrall's book made me walk a lot. I found myself pacing around between chapters, paragraphs and sometimes even sentences just in order to be able to absorb the brutality, the pathos, the steely tenderness, and the sheer spectacle of the cunning and complex ways in which a state can hammer down a people and yet earn the applause and adulation of the civilized world for its actions -- Arundhati Roy
The book combines heart-wrenching prose with rare political insight. It tells a deeply moving story about one tragic road accident, which illuminates the tragedy of the millions of Palestinians who live under Israeli Occupation -- Yuval Noah Harari
Thrall is one of the few writers who can combine vivid storytelling with in-depth analysis of the occupation... his expertise allows him to shuttle nimbly between the viewpoints of frantic families and Palestinian leaders as well as Israeli officials and nearby settlers -- Rozina Ali * New York Times *
Clear-eyed... A long and powerful book of reportage… Unflinching clarity. At a time when facts have become weapons in this seemingly endless conflict, this is a book that speaks with truth of ordinary lives trapped in the jaws of history * Observer *
Magnificent…The book does what all good stories should do – it unfolds both minutely and epically at the same time. It does not moralise, and yet it does not shirk its responsibility to knock our sense of comfortable balance all to hell….The nature of injustice is such that we may not always see it in our own times, but history will hold us accountable. That’s why Thrall’s book, and those like it, are so important * The Irish Times *
Brings the reader as close to... reality as can possibly be done with words -- Ahdaf Soueif * Times Literary Supplement *
Thrall captures both the universality and the specificity of the experiences of Palestinians living under Israeli Occupation... the book builds a relentless case that this crash and the ensuing trauma must be remembered. It was all so predictable - and could easily happen again * Economist *
An important book… one that closely examines the intricacies of injustice perpetrated on the Palestinian population by the Israeli government, its systems and plenty of its Jewish citizens -- Ilana Masad * Washington Post *
Recounting a real story, this book shows how a small private tragedy (a traffic accident during a school trip) becomes a mirror of Israeli-Palestinian relations as they currently stand * Vogue, Books to Help You Better Understand the War between Israel and Hamas *
Reading this Middle East expert’s account of a Palestinian worker and activist and the death of his angelic 5-year-old son, Malid, is tough — and necessary. The bus accident that took the boy’s life in 2012 was caused in no small part by the neglected infrastructure that makes Palestinian Jerusalem a miserable, dangerous place to live. By narrowing the focus to one family’s loss, Thrall humanizes the consequences of systemic decay -- Bethanne Patrick * LA Times *
A harrowing eye-opener, and given what is happening in Israel and Palestine, it has become even more poignant -- Andrea Wulf * Spectator *
This compassionate story of a father searching for his five-year-old son following a tragic accident provides an immersive portrait of daily life in Palestine. Weaving together the ordinary lives of Jewish and Palestinian inhabitants, it combines vivid storytelling with in-depth analysis of the occupation * Service95, Books to Help You Understand Israel and Palestine *
A powerful evocation of a two-tiered society that treats children as potential combatants * New Yorker, Best Books of 2023 *
The daily horror that is life in Israel-Palestine is told through A Day in the Life of Abed Salama. Nathan Thrall uses a road accident to outline the relationship between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East and particularly how Israeli policies have radicalised generations of Arabs. The physical and political architecture of apartheid make what might have been an unfortunate accident into a political tragedy -- Eoin O'Malley * Irish Independent, Best Books of the Year *
This calm and thoughtful account is a reminder of the value of clear-headed analysis in times of crisis… Thrall’s tone is measured and the details he provides are well chosen -- Caroline Moorhead * Literary Review *
A Day in the Life of Abed Salama unveils the tragedy of Palestine through one grieving father … offering a cogent and concise history of the violence and many injustices that have marked life in Palestinians’ shrinking territories -- Stuart Miller * LA Times *
Reading A Day in the Life of Abed Salama I was utterly enthralled by the quality of the writing, the humanity contained within its pages -- Nihal Arthanayake * Radio 5 *
In A Day in the Life of Abed Salama, Nathan Thrall not only recounts a father’s frantic search for his 5-year-old son after the crash; his deeply reported book also places the reader in the realm Palestinians navigate every day, a lesser world in which life and death may be decided by others -- Karl Vick * Time Magazine, 100 must-read books of 2023 *
A powerful book, illustrating daily life in Israel Gaza and the West Bank * The News Agents podcast *
Stunning and heartbreaking, in A Day in the Life of Abed Salama Nathan Thrall somehow manages to bypass the barbed wire of politics and partisanship to present a searing picture of what it means to be a Palestinian parent * WYPR, The Weekly Reader *
A Day in the Life of Abed Salama, a new book by essayist and journalist Nathan Thrall, renders the struggle over Israel/Palestine at the human scale by way of the heart-wrenching story of a road accident. Situating the personal narrative in the context of structural forces, A Day in the Life of Abed Salama elucidates the daily injustices faced by Palestinians living under occupation in the West Bank and details the painful realities of life in the region * Jewish Currents magazine *
A penetrating, wide-ranging, heart-wrenching exploration of life in Palestine under Israeli occupation. I know of no other writing on Israel & Palestine that reaches this depth of perception & understanding -- David Shulman * New York Review of Books *
A Day in the Life of Abed Salama is digressive narrative nonfiction as a major piece of political art -- Gideon Lewis-Kraus * LitHub *
Haunting * New Republic, Best Books of 2023 *
A masterpiece... an extraordinary achievement -- James North * Mondoweiss *
A towering achievement. I've not read anything like it. Thrall takes the bureaucracy and infrastructure of apartheid and uses them to tell a painfully emotional, personal story -- Omar Robert Hamilton
It is hard to think of another book that gives such a poignant, deeply human face to the ongoing tragedy of Palestine. Thrall's evocation of both a terrible crisis and the daily humiliations of life under occupation is nothing short of heartbreaking -- Adam Hochschild
This brilliant and heartbreaking book is a masterpiece. It reads like a novel, yet is all sadly true. I finished it in tears -- James Rebanks
In this luminous story of Palestinians striving to live under Israeli rule, there is much cruelty. But there is also great love - of parents for their children, of lovers for their beloved, and of people for their home. This book is transformative -- Andre Aciman
Nathan’s book is a marvel. The best I’ve read about real lives in Israel Palestine (and I’ve read a lot). It’s beautiful and brilliant -- Rachel Cooke (via Twitter)
This impressive book brings the reader through a detailed set of human histories, relationships and experiences, all stemming out from one horrible incident and one Palestinian family affected by it. It shows us how everything in these Palestinians' daily lives - from the mundane to the catastrophic - has been controlled, contained and shaped under Israeli rule. Amid their struggle to survive, Nathan Thrall documents the best and worst of humanity: pride, bravery, love, stupidity, callousness and cruelty -- Sally Hayden
In excavating the site of a single tragedy, Nathan Thrall uncovers the sprawling architecture of oppression that dominates Palestinian lives. His writing propels the reader across a geography that is partitioned behind walls and into enclaves, revealing in visceral, human detail what Israeli subjugation means, and how it shapes the most intimate corners of the Palestinian experience. With empathy and grace, Thrall transforms this incomprehensible, avoidable loss into an ode to a father's love -- Tareq Baconi
A brilliant and heart-wrenching book that captures the daily tragedy of Palestinian life under Israeli occupation better than any other I have read. An outstanding achievement and a must read -- Eugene Rogan
Nathan Thrall has written an amazing work of nonfiction that I devoured… a beautiful book that... is powerful and far reaching in its portrait of life in Israel and Palestine -- Geraldine Brooks * Saturday Paper *
Praise for the original NYRB article: I pray that Thrall's article will remind President Joe Biden of the courageous stance he took against apartheid in South Africa as a senator. I hope that it will provide a mirror which shows that the very same type of laws that he opposed in South Africa are now instrumental in oppressing Palestinians, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean -- Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Praise for original NYRB article: Beautifully written, even as it shares a devastating truth -- Michelle Alexander
Praise for the original NYRB article: One of the best pieces I have read on Palestine -- J. M. Coetzee
Praise for the original NYRB article: A strong article by Nathan Thrall-a very, very strong article -- Noam Chomsky
Praise for the original NYRB article: Nathan Thrall's heart-wrenching essay lays bare the essential truth of Israel's occupation of the West Bank: Palestinians live under apartheid. And we in the U.S. subsidize this illegal operation to the tune of $3.8 billion a year. 'A Day in the Life of Abed Salama' needs to be read by everyone. Every word, from beginning to end. And then we need to do something about it -- Robin D. G. Kelley