No Charge for Looking

Melanie Markowitz has come to Israel to take a look around. And the first person she meets tells her - no shouts at her - that there's no charge for looking. Nevertheless, in emotional terms, looking turns out to be pretty expensive. In a matter of days Melanie becomes disputed territory with two lovers, one Palestinian and one Israeli, advancing confident claims to her company, her conversation, her body, and what they can seize of her soul.

This high-spirited tale of the adventures of a female innocent abroad is very funny, oddly touching, and most astute in its observations on the international comedy of manners. And while presenting a witty chronicle of Melanie's sufferings as the no-man's-land of two impassioned admirers, it says things that are far from trivial about life in Israel and life in general.

The book is a love letter to Israelis, to Palestinians, and to the crazy unpredictable people there who are often wonderful, in spite of their governments.