Praise & Reviews for Shut Up, I'm Talking

"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."

"Funny and insightful."

"…wickedly funny…worthy of a Hollywood spoof."

"Fast-paced, funny…Levey's writing is similar in style to New Yorker writer David Sedaris's, and he seems to find humour in nearly every situation."

"In Levey's insightful, often hilarious memoir, the political writer chronicles his meteoric rise from seriously underqualified speechwriter for the Israeli delegation to the United Nations to seriously underqualified speechwriter for Ariel Sharon. Along the way, he provides an amusing-almost frightening-insider's view of the surprisingly cavalier nature of contemporary Israeli government, politics, and diplomacy."

"breezy, satirical…a comedy of manners…"

"This is an extraordinarily interesting exit interview for public consumption. So eat it up."

"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."

"…unforgettable…"

"…a new twist on the genre: insider political memoir as surreal black comedy."

"…Kafkaesque…"

“…hilarious…”

“Levey reports with a keen eye, a deft hand, high humor, and utter astonishment at the workings of the Israeli government. The result is a thoroughly entertaining inside look…”

“Like every great Jewish joke, "Shut Up" not only makes us laugh at ourselves, but tells us some deeper truth. Taken seriously, "Shut Up" could be a one-man independent government inquiry to fix what's wrong with Israel's Foreign Ministry. It could clear the noxious atmosphere at the United Nations. It could inspire Israelis to be more considerate of one another. It might even make Israel an attractive place for nice Jewish boys from North America.”

“…proof that a book can, at the same time, be hilarious in its content and depressing in its vision.”