Nathan Englander is a writer who can really grab you. His stories mix dark humor with serious thoughts about life, especially Jewish life. He is great at showing you characters who are funny but also dealing with big, important things.
If you like books that are smart, that can make you laugh out loud and then think deeply just a few pages later, and that explore Jewish identity in new ways, then you might want to discover other writers with a style similar to his.
Nicole Krauss is an American novelist known for weaving profound emotional depth and subtle humor into stories that explore Jewish identity, memory, and human connection.
Her novel “The History of Love” follows Leo Gursky, an elderly immigrant from Poland living a quiet life in New York.
Leo, haunted by lost love and the manuscript of a book he wrote decades earlier, crosses paths indirectly with a young girl named Alma, whose mother translates a mysterious novel titled “The History of Love.”
Their lives unfold separately yet move closer, gradually revealing threads of love, loss, and the surprising ways people touch each other’s lives.
Readers who enjoy Nathan Englander’s storytelling, with its blend of warmth, insight into Jewish life, and bittersweet humor, will find Krauss’s voice equally enriching and appealing.
Readers who enjoy Nathan Englander may appreciate Jonathan Safran Foer’s thoughtful exploration of memory, history, and identity. In his novel “Everything Is Illuminated,” Foer introduces readers to a young Jewish American named Jonathan.
He travels to Ukraine with an old photograph, determined to find Augustine, the woman who saved his grandfather during the Holocaust.
Accompanied by the humorous and energetic translator Alex and Alex’s eccentric grandfather, Jonathan embarks on a journey filled with unexpected revelations.
Foer skillfully weaves the past with the present, using vibrant characters and sharp wit to examine family bonds and cultural heritage. His storytelling captures both the absurd and the profound, creating a narrative that is emotionally powerful and sincerely reflective.
Books by Etgar Keret offer short stories filled with humor, absurdity, and poignant moments. His collection, “Suddenly, a Knock on the Door,” explores ordinary lives through stories infused with surreal twists and sharp wit.
For instance, the opening tale introduces a writer held at gunpoint by three men who demand he immediately invent a captivating story.
Keret’s distinctive voice captures complex emotions in the simplest scenarios, similar to Nathan Englander’s blend of dark humor and thoughtful observation. Readers who enjoyed Englander’s tales on identity and human dilemmas may find Keret’s quirky narratives equally engaging.
Philip Roth is an American novelist known for his sharp wit and insight into American Jewish life, identity, and morality. Readers who enjoy Nathan Englander’s stories of cultural introspection will likely find Roth engaging.
His novel “The Plot Against America” imagines an alternate history where Charles Lindbergh becomes President in 1940. Instead of entering World War II, America slowly descends towards antisemitism and authoritarian rule.
The story focuses on a young Jewish boy in Newark, New Jersey, and his family as their familiar and comfortable lives gradually change into an uncertain, unnerving reality.
Roth expertly blends historical events with fiction, creating a believable narrative filled with tension and powerful emotional depth.
If you enjoy Nathan Englander’s insightful exploration of Jewish identity and the complexity of human relationships, then Ayelet Tsabari’s work might connect with you.
Her collection of short stories, “The Best Place on Earth,” offers a vivid look into the lives of Mizrahi Jews in Israel and beyond. Tsabari takes us into the inner worlds of characters who confront questions of family, tradition, and belonging.
In one striking story, two sisters reconnect after years apart and struggle with the expectations placed upon them by their Yemeni Jewish heritage. Through heartfelt and authentic storytelling, Tsabari opens up a world that many readers rarely get to experience.
Readers who enjoy Nathan Englander’s sharp exploration of character and insightful wit may appreciate Deborah Eisenberg. Her collection “Twilight of the Superheroes” contains stories that examine ordinary lives set against extraordinary circumstances.
In the title tale, Eisenberg captures the uncertainty of a generation facing post-9/11 anxieties and personal struggles, shedding light on how large events seep into private lives.
Her stories are subtle and quietly powerful, built around thoughtful reflection and richly layered characters. If you value Englander’s emotional depth and careful observation, Eisenberg offers similarly sustained and engaging storytelling.
Bernard Malamud is an American writer known for his thoughtful portrayal of Jewish lives marked by ethical struggles, humor, and compassion. If you’ve appreciated Nathan Englander’s stories, Malamud’s narrative style offers something familiar yet fresh.
His novel “The Assistant” explores themes of guilt, redemption, and racial tensions through the story of Morris Bober, a humble Jewish grocer in Brooklyn, and his relationship with Frank Alpine—a troubled young man whose life becomes tangled up with Morris’s family after a crime.
The quiet intensity and moral depth of this story might resonate with readers who value complex characters and subtle reflections on identity.
Readers who enjoy Nathan Englander’s blend of humor, introspection, and sharp observations about human nature may find Saul Bellow equally appealing. Bellow often explores themes of identity, freedom, and personal struggle with a witty and insightful voice.
A good place to start is his classic novel “Herzog,” which tells the story of Moses Herzog, a middle-aged professor wrestling with his own failures, anxieties, and chaotic relationships. Herzog is charmingly neurotic and endlessly clever.
He obsessively composes letters—in his head and on paper—to friends, family, politicians, philosophers, and even the dead, as he searches for meaning and clarity in his tangled life.
Bellow’s mix of humor and deeper thought offers a reading experience readers of Englander might thoroughly enjoy.
If you enjoy Nathan Englander’s thoughtful explorations of identity and memory, you might also appreciate Andre Aciman. His novel “Call Me by Your Name” captures the intense feelings of first love and self-discovery.
Set during a slow, sun-drenched summer in Italy, it follows the relationship between Elio, an intelligent and introspective teenager, and Oliver, a charismatic American graduate student who stays with Elio’s family.
Aciman skillfully shows the delicate emotions and awkward moments that shape their deepening connection. The story beautifully portrays desire, longing, and vulnerability, wrapped in a lyrical and introspective narrative.
Books by Jhumpa Lahiri often explore deep themes of cultural identity, belonging, and generational change, similar in essence to Nathan Englander’s thoughtful narratives.
Her short story collection, “Interpreter of Maladies,” beautifully portrays the emotional distance between characters from immigrant families as they navigate their lives between Indian traditions and American realities.
Lahiri’s characters feel real and relatable, with quiet yet powerful moments that resonate after the stories end. Readers who enjoy Englander’s sensitive storytelling and exploration of culture may appreciate Lahiri’s captivating narratives and insight into human relationships.
Readers who enjoy Nathan Englander might appreciate the novels of Chaim Potok. Potok’s thoughtful exploration of faith, identity, and tradition offers insightful portrayals of Jewish life and community. His novel “The Chosen” tells the story of two Jewish boys in 1940s Brooklyn.
One boy, Reuven Malter, lives in a modern Orthodox family, while the other, Danny Saunders, is the brilliant son of a Hasidic rebbe.
Potok develops a deep friendship between these two teenagers as they confront family expectations, religious traditions, and the realities of the post-war era. The novel explores how each boy wrestles with his heritage, personal desires, and parental authority.
Potok’s clear language and sensitive storytelling evoke strong emotions that will resonate with Nathan Englander readers.
Readers who appreciate Nathan Englander’s exploration of Jewish identity and culture may find Tova Mirvis equally engaging. Mirvis’ novel “The Ladies Auxiliary” portrays the quiet upheaval in a close-knit Orthodox Jewish community when a newcomer arrives in town.
As Batsheva, a free-spirited convert, settles into the traditional neighborhood of Memphis, Tennessee, the local women grapple with shifts in friendships, conformity, and judgments.
The novel intimately depicts the inner workings of community life and the pressures to conform, raising thoughtful questions about identity and belonging that readers of Englander will recognize and appreciate.
Isaac Bashevis Singer was a master storyteller known for vividly capturing Jewish life and tradition in his fiction.
With a mix of humor, mysticism, and insight into human nature, he creates stories filled with memorable characters and thoughtful plots reminiscent of Nathan Englander’s storytelling.
In his celebrated novel “The Magician of Lublin,” Singer introduces readers to Yasha Mazur, a charismatic magician and performer, whose seemingly charmed life conceals inner struggles and moral dilemmas.
Set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Poland, Yasha navigates temptation, ambition, faith, and identity—all wrapped in Singer’s distinctive narrative style and authentic depiction of Jewish Eastern European life.
For readers who enjoy exploring complexities in Jewish characters and layered moral issues evident in Englander’s works, Singer’s “The Magician of Lublin” offers an absorbing and thought-provoking tale.
Cynthia Ozick is a thoughtful and powerful voice in American literature whose works resonate with deep Jewish themes. If you appreciate Nathan Englander’s focus on identity and historical memory, Ozick’s novella “The Shawl” might speak to you.
Set partly in a Nazi concentration camp, the story follows Rosa and her tiny daughter Magda, who is hidden inside a shawl for safety and comfort.
The story then moves years later, when Rosa is older and living isolated in Miami, haunted by memories of the Holocaust and the traumatic loss she suffered. Ozick explores survival, loss, and the struggle with identity after tragedy.
Her prose is vivid, sharp, and emotional, able to move readers deeply with few words.
Joshua Henkin is an American writer whose novels often explore complex relationships and questions of Jewish identity, family, and moral decisions.
If you enjoy Nathan Englander’s thought-provoking storytelling, Joshua Henkin’s novel “The World Without You” might also capture your interest. The book centers around the Frankel family, brought back together a year after their youngest son’s tragic death in Iraq.
Set during a Fourth of July weekend in their summer home, each family member wrestles with loss, grief, and unspoken resentments.
Henkin gives readers a story rich with emotional insight and authenticity, following characters as they confront hidden tensions and memories, challenging both their family unity and individual sense of self.