Dog—the U.S. debut of Israeli writer Yishay Ishi Ron—delivers an honest and unflinching portrait of a veteran battling trauma and addiction.

The story follows Geller, a former Israeli commando officer whose life unravels the aftermath of war. Now adrift in Tel Aviv, he struggles with PTSD, addiction, and the disorienting pull of memory. On the margins of society, Geller forges tentative connections—with Doris, a woman whose loyalty offers both comfort and challenge, and with a stray dog who becomes his unlikely companion but emotional anchor.

Written originally in Hebrew and long-listed for the Sapir Prize, one of Israel’s most prestigious literary awards, the novel now reaches English-speaking readers in a translation that preserves both its intensity and lyricism.

Ishi, is not only the author but also a survivor of PTSD, having served in an elite IDF combat unit. His writing channels lived experience into fiction, and it shows how storytelling can give shape to pain, reshape it, and transcend beyond it. Joining him is Yardenne Greenspan, a Tel Aviv–born writer and translator. Yardenne is a graduate of Columbia University’s MFA program in fiction and literary translation, and definitely has brought some of the most urgent voices in Hebrew literature into English.

Recommended Reading:

DOG

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