Yael Hedaya: Israeli novelist and In Treatment script writer - New York NY

[davidfcooper]

The third season of the HBO psychological drama "In Treatment," a series based on the Israeli dramatic series "BeTipul," begins tonight at 9:00 PM, and tomorrow "Eden," the latest novel by "BeTipul" head writer Yael Hedaya, will be published in English by Metropolitan Books, a division of New York publisher Henry Holt and Company. In a New York Magazine interview Hedaya identifies the characters Laura, from the first season of "In Treatment," and Roni, the teenager in "Eden," as younger versions of herself. Hedaya, who now lives in Israel, lived in New York and studied creative writing as a graduate student at NYU.

In my New York Journal of Books review of "Eden" I compare the new translation with Hedaya's longer original Hebrew edition. Although the English version is abridged, I don't think its fair to compare its considerable cuts to Gordon Lish's extensive editing of Raymond Carver's short stories; even after the cuts the English edition of "Eden" comes in at just under 500 pages, and the editing helps its pace. I enthusiasticly recommend both the television series and the novel, and look forward to both reading and viewing Yael Hedaya's future work.

For more info: David Cooper