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E. Samuel
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Under Neon Lights: A Novel Kindle Edition

by E. Samuel (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
2.7 2.7 out of 5 stars 22 ratings
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It’s the late 1990s, and twenty-five-year-old Joshua, who has never been with a woman, is hungry for love. When he is not typing zip codes during the night shifts at a post office distribution center, he is visiting euphoric dance bars and desolated pubs in an attempt to meet women, only to be met with indifference and contempt. Then, one night, he meets Cynthia…

When the young woman arrives at the post office, she is shown to the computer next to Joshua’s. She speaks to him, and by that becomes the first person in the room to ever address him. As they stand together in the cold during their breaks he discovers a poetic, even tormented soul.

After a lifetime of living as an outsider, Joshua is invited inside the tasteful, artisanal life of Cynthia’s inner circle. He is so certain that if her extended hand touches his, neither will be alone again. But as he senses they are growing closer and closer, Joshua will soon learn that some things are just too good to be true.
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  1. Print length
    254 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    June 26, 2022
  5. File size
    2806 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Try not to miss this powerful, burning book... Alive and blunt and painful and moving and alive again" - Arik Glasner, Yediot Ahronot (Israel's second-largest daily newspaper)

"Bukowskian characters, the misery pouring out of them like machine oil blackening the pavement" - Yaron Avitov, Makor Rishon (Israeli newspaper)

"Breathtaking... Full of compact and merciless human interactions" - Dafna Levi, Laisha ("For Women", a popular Israeli women'smagazine)

"Do yourselves a big favor and don't let this book pass you by" - Y-net (Isreal's most popular news website)

"An excellent and powerful book about an extraordinary and profound existential experience" - Rom Ben-Artsi, books blogger

"A very strong, powerful and realistic book" - Snir Peleg, books blogger

From the Author

​

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09XR4MC17
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ (June 26, 2022)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 26, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2806 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 254 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    2.7 2.7 out of 5 stars 22 ratings

About the author

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E. Samuel

E. Samuel

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E. Samuel is the international pen name of Eli Shmueli - an award-winning author and poet living in Jerusalem, Israel. His writing, described as "dirty realism", was compared by commentators to Bukowski’s novels and to Orwell’s early works, and features the people commonly ignored by modern society – the unsuccessful, those who did not accomplish their dreams. His poems appear in the printed media in Israel, and were translated into English, Spanish and Arabic.

Shmueli’s debut novel, Under Neon Lights (published as “Margins Man”, Pardes publishing, 2015), was awarded four literary prizes including the Ministry of Culture Prize, the Goldberg Foundation prize for best manuscript, the Rabinovich Foundation Award, and the prestigious Pardes Fellowship of the National Library of Israel.

Following the publication of his poetry book The God That Failed Is You (Pardes Publishing, 2017) and the controversial novel The Poet and the Stripper (Am Oved Publishers, 2020), Shmueli received the Israeli Prime Minister Literary Award.

Customer reviews

2.7 out of 5 stars
2.7 out of 5
22 global ratings
Review for Tomoson
3 Stars
Review for Tomoson
When I first started reading this book I was very intrigued and it pulled me in; but after reading more into it, it seems like there is a lot of fat shaming and I don’t like that. This book is also made for the 18+ crowd.
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Top reviews from the United States

Vachagan Muradyan
5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting story
Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2022
Verified Purchase
This is a book about a lonely man's thoughts and the love he finds.
I would definitely recommend it to my book lover friends
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ADEGUN ADEBAYO
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2022
Verified Purchase
Under Neon Lights is superb. A great book to be read
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Nora Kettner
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting story, but the perspective of women was disappointing
Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2022
While the initial story was very intriguing to me, I got a bit disappointed by this book. The way in which the female characters are described makes it very clear that it's a very “women written by a man” kind of book, which at times even just felt very objectifying and uncomfortable. The story is interesting and well-written besides that, but overall I was disappointed.
3 people found this helpful
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Piaras
5.0 out of 5 stars An impressive debut novel.
Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2022
Eli Shmueli, an award-winning author and poet based in Jerusalem, Israel, goes by the pen name E. Samuel. Commentators compared his "dirty realism" writing to Bukowski's novels and Orwell's early writings, and it depicts those who are often overlooked by modern society - the unsuccessful, those who have failed to realize their aspirations. His poetry has been published in Israel's print media and has been translated into English, Spanish, and Arabic. Under Neon Lights (published as "Margins Man" by Pardes Publishing in 2015), Shmueli's debut novel won four literary awards: the Ministry of Culture Prize, the Goldberg Foundation Prize for Best Manuscript, the Rabinovich Foundation Award, and the prestigious Pardes Fellowship of the National Library of Israel.

Under Neon Lights is a wonderfully written and solid read that benefits substantially from a raft of better-than-average elements. The author weaves a well-crafted powerful narrative that could serve as an allegory for the pains of being. It’s a unique work that had me captivated from the opening chapter. Skillfully constructed, this well-written story had me turning the pages from beginning to end. There’s also plenty of imagery in the writing style that makes you feel you are right there in the story, and that’s something I look for in a good book.

To summarize the synopsis: Joshua, a twenty-five-year-old male who has never been with a woman, is looking for love in the late 1990s. He visits euphoric dance bars and dismal pubs in an attempt to meet ladies when he is not entering zip codes during night shifts at a post office distribution center, only to be treated with apathy and scorn. Then he meets Cynthia one night... The young woman is directed to the computer next to Joshua's when she arrives at the post office. She approaches him and becomes the first person in the room to address him. He discovers a poetic, even tormented spirit as they stand together in the cold during their breaks… After a lifetime of being an outsider, Joshua is accepted into Cynthia's inner circle to partake in the exquisite, artisanal lifestyle. He's convinced that if her extended hand touches his, neither of them would ever be alone again. Joshua will quickly realize, however, that some things are simply too good to be true as they become closer.

This for me was a remarkable read. It’s one of those stories that stayed with me long after I finished reading it. The vivid descriptions of the settings, situations, and characters were stunning. The author’s use of genuine dialogue further added to the overall atmosphere of authenticity. The contrast between tone and content is a characteristic talent of only a few authors. ‘E. Samuel’ pays as much attention to his sentences as he does to his plots, shifting or consolidating meaning with the use of a single word. His prose is well-honed, full of juxtapositions and qualifications that contribute to the overall creation of a genuine and realistic environment. The author has created a parable of sorts about fears and anxiety, about the place of the sensitive person, the thinker, the human, within modern society's current social order, in a world where humans are the only animals who lament their fate.

Highly recommended and a well-deserved five stars from me. Special mention also to Yardenne Greenspan for the excellent translation from the original Hebrew. I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
2 people found this helpful
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Wasabi
3.0 out of 5 stars pulls you in but lacks respect for women
Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2022
Tend to agree with a couple other reviewers....
"The way in which the female characters are described....which at times even just felt very objectifying and uncomfortable."
"I did not like....the way women were portrayed at all. It is well written and is a page turner..."
It just leaves a bad taste as to how the character objectifies women.
2 people found this helpful
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Abbigail Holmes
4.0 out of 5 stars Lonely Life
Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2022
What does it look like when you live among people but you are alone in your own darkness - that would be the description of the main character. And then, when you long for the Light so long and that Light comes, is it real? Or it is just another betrayal of reality?
The written scenes in this book are very vivid, and the pictures of loneliness, darkness, insecurity, happiness, and love are strong and yet poetic. I felt sorry all the time for the main character because somehow you know that people like him are meant never to find happiness. And that is sad.
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Chassity Peters
3.0 out of 5 stars Review for Tomoson
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2022
When I first started reading this book I was very intrigued and it pulled me in; but after reading more into it, it seems like there is a lot of fat shaming and I don’t like that. This book is also made for the 18+ crowd.
Customer image
Chassity Peters
3.0 out of 5 stars Review for Tomoson
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2022
When I first started reading this book I was very intrigued and it pulled me in; but after reading more into it, it seems like there is a lot of fat shaming and I don’t like that. This book is also made for the 18+ crowd.
Images in this review
Customer image Customer image
Customer imageCustomer image
2 people found this helpful
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Sofia Petrovna
5.0 out of 5 stars For all the lovers of Bukowski
Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2022
For all the lovers of Bukowski out there, I have some good news - you are going to love this book!
The main character is miserable, bathing in his loneliness. He is utterly and completely unhappy. What he does is sort letters in the post office. He was studying philosophy but never finished. And now he is trying to find a woman, any woman that can mend his loneliness.
He is just not used to being happy. I had a real fear reading about him and thinking how he will never find happiness.
As opposed to his darkness, Cynthia is light, and when she shows up in his life, he starts to wonder is it too good to be true.
One person found this helpful
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