Shut Up, I'm Talking: And Other Diplomacy Lessons I Learned in the Israeli Government--A Memoir (Hardcover)

by Gregory Levey (Author)
Key Phrases: head speechwriter, media wing, surveillance drones, Prime Minister's Office, Middle East, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"A funny, sometimes horrifying look at the inner workings of international government agencies.... [Levey] makes speechwriting seem cooler than even Aaron Sorkin imagined.... Read it for the hilarity and the keen portraiture, but try to pretend these people don't actually make decisions about the fate of the world." -- Kirkus Reviews

"This brilliant and blindingly funny book is like a nonfictional season of The West Wing set in the Knesset. If you ever wanted an insider tale about why the Middle East is such a complicated, heartrending, and yet unbelievably compelling saga then look no further. Gregory Levey has captured the soul of this conflict with charm, grace, and diplomatic wit." -- Matthew Polly, author of American Shaolin

Product Description
Shut Up, I'm Talking is a smart, hilarious insider take on Israeli politics that reads like the bastard child of Thomas Friedman and David Sedaris. Now a political writer for Salon, Gregory Levey stumbled into a job as speechwriter for the Israeli delegation to the United Nations at age twenty-five and suddenly found himself, like a latter-day Zelig, in the company of foreign ministers, U.S. senators, and heads of state. Much to his surprise, he was soon attending U.N. sessions and drafting official government statements. The situation got stranger still when he was transferred to Jerusalem to write speeches for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Shut Up, I'm Talking is a startling account of Levey's journey into the nerve center of Middle Eastern politics at one of the most turbulent times in Israeli history. During his three years in the Israeli government, the Second Intifada continued on in fits and starts, Yasser Arafat died, Hamas came to power, and Ariel Sharon fell into a coma. Levey was repeatedly thrust into highly improbable situations -- from being the sole "Israeli" delegate (even though he's Canadian) at the U.N. General Assembly, with no idea how "his" country wanted to vote; to nearly inciting an international incident with his high school French translation of an Arab diplomat's anti-Israel remarks; to communicating with Israeli intelligence about the suspected perpetrators of suicide bombings; to being offered leftover salami from Ariel Sharon's lunch. As Levey got better acquainted with the personalities in the government's inner sanctum, he witnessed firsthand the improvisational and ridiculously casual nature of the country's behind-the-scenes leadership -- and realized that he wasn't the only one faking his way through politics.

With sharp insight and great appreciation for the absurd, Levey offers the first-ever look inside Israel's politics from the perspective of a complete outsider, ultimately concluding that the Israeli government is no place for a nice Jewish boy.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; 1 edition (April 22, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416556133
• ISBN-13: 978-1416556138
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #462,303 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "L'CHAIM! HILARIOUS INSIDERS LOOK AT THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT!", April 30, 2008

By	Rick Shaq Goldstein "Rick Shaq Goldstein" (Danville, Ca, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

** AUTHOR'S NOTE **
"As I write this note, things don't look good in the Middle East. I'm not sure when you're reading this, but I assume that things still don't look good in the Middle East, because they never really do."
-----------------------------------------------------------

The author Gregory Levey at the age of twenty-five-years-old and not even an Israeli citizen found himself sitting alone at the State of Israel's seat at the United Nations General Assembly. An important vote was about to take place, and he not only didn't know which way to vote on the resolution... he didn't even know what the resolution was!

This humorous and almost satirical yet somber situation was all set in motion innocently enough when Greg became bored in his second year of law school. The author being Jewish and a Canadian citizen going to school in New York decided to volunteer to serve in the Israeli army. After he signed up on-line for the army he still had a number of months ahead of him until he had to report to Israel. Unwilling to accept the monotonous months of waiting ahead he decided to apply for an internship at the Israeli Mission to the United Nations. What follows could provide enough fodder for a full season of hilarious sitcom material. As Greg followed up on his application, over and over again, without any positive results, he showed dogged determination and made yet another phone call to yet another person who told him to fax his resume directly to her. After still no response Greg gave up on the whole idea and left for Christmas break.

After he returned to New York in January he got a strange call from a man named Yaron from Israeli security. This led to many, many, phone calls with varying degrees of time between each clandestine call, with questions that ranged from "what side of the street did he live on?" to questions about the Jewish summer camp he attended as a child. Finally an interview was set up with Israeli Ambassador Mekel. The first thing the Ambassador said was: "You look perfect on paper, so there must be something wrong with you." During the interview the Ambassador told Greg there is no internship program but offered him a deputy speechwriter job on a part-time basis, because the regular speechwriter was going to be leaving and if everything went well he could take over fulltime. "Greg accepted the offer, but told him that as a Canadian, he was not eligible to work in the United States. The Ambassador shook his head before he even finished the sentence and said, "I can hire anyone I want. We'll just change your status from student to DIPLOMAT!" "So that was it. From the U.S. State Department's point of view, Greg was going to be an Israeli Diplomat, even though he wasn't an Israeli citizen." Greg had come in the hope of getting an internship and walked out as an Israeli Diplomat.

From there Greg starts writing speeches for Ambassador's in New York and gets noticed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's staff in Israel, and as a favor writes a speech for the Prime Minister. While working in the Mission in New York he takes a vacation in Israel and takes a course in "combat firearms". He subsequently takes another vacation and goes to Israel and takes an "intelligence and counterintelligence" course, and as part of an assignment has to go undercover as "Joey Shmeltz". He then gets invited to come to Israel and work on Prime Minister Sharon's staff. From there on out the author provides a never before seen "outsider's" view of the "inside" of the tumultuous stress that Israeli's face daily as a people and as a nation with a smattering of rye humor along the way.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Juvenile, patronizing, and not very funny, July 30, 2008

By	David Mandel - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The author, probably because of his youth, shows consistently a superior and patronizing attitude.
Probably due to his "outsider" point of view, he generalizes and presents negative stereotypes from just a few personal unpleasant incidents.
If you read it for laughs or to gain some understanding of the complicated situation of the Middle East, you will be disappointed.
I was.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Haha - a hilarious (and interesting) read, April 28, 2008

By	wync (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

Levey is one of the funniest writer's I've read in a while. The best pieces in here are funny to the point that I laughed out loud in public. In fact, the best pieces are so good that you seek to retell it to your friends, yet sadly realize that you don't have the 1/10th the storytelling chops of Levey.

Beyond the humor, Levey is endearing and honest. Indeed, his stories are as funny as they are because they are wrapped in the context of Levey's empathy and thoughtfulness. I've purchased this book already for three friends, and look forward to further giving it away to people who haven't had the pleasure of reading it. If you haven't read this book, it is a must. I am very much anticipating his next work!