"Years ago, Nell Zink resolved to write a book for her friend, the Israeli novelist Avner Shats, that would mirror his remarkable style. Unable to read his Hebrew, she was forced to start from scratch. Now, this tongue-in-cheek homage is available to Nells growing readership for the first time, accompanied by a second dazzling and imaginative work that breathesat Shatss requestthe perfumed air of the Old Europe and stars a figure very much like Shats. Sailing Towards the Sunset by Avner Shats is Zinks faux-translation of Shatss 1998 novel Lashut El Hashkia ("Sailing Towards the Sunset"). It flows with a narrative spin only the singular Zink could pull offincluding both authentic and fictional versions of characters from Shatss life and work such as the author herself. A fast-moving portrait of expat artists, authors, and academics on fellowships at the Villa Romana in Florence, European Story for Avner Shats centers on a trio of three indelible characters: an Israeli writer vaguely reminiscent of Shats, a German specialist in ancient lint, and a beautiful and fraudulent Russian performance artist"--Amazon.com.