The Beast in the Belly is a novel that follows the development and transformations of an Israeli artist and cultural hero, from the moment he arrives from the periphery to Tel Aviv to the moment when bad news hits him and shatters his world. Eran Tzur, one of the pillars of rock music in Israel, has made a name for himself as a songwriter and performer with a unique, eccentric and provocative tone. In his new novel, he goes all the way. He opens a window to the intricate connections between sexuality, or more precisely, sexual compulsion, expressed in bizarre rituals, and inspiration, writing and performing in front of an audience. At the same time, he introduces us to the dizzying cycle of the artist, trapped between episodes of his excessive infatuation with himself and situations in which he wallows in nausea and self-loathing. Eran Tzur sketches his portrait of the total artist while walking the back streets of Tel Aviv – lower Tel Aviv, on some of its lost types, which is the perfect backdrop for his dark story. The Beast in the Belly is a bare novel, dealing with an enigmatic personality. It covers and reveals. Honest and deceitful. Disgusting, outrageous, but evoking empathy and sometimes even admiration. Moral and rotten to the core. Sections of spiritual transcendence are followed by sections of abuse and cruelty – and all in high tension. Yigal Schwartz Publisher: Kinneret Zmora Dvir Publication date: January 2020 Category: Prose Source Number of pages: 224 printed pages
