Henry Tobias

Just For Fun Henry Tobias

'Just for Fun' is an anthology of short stories, some fiction, some faction, some autobiographical, but always interesting. The book is a mix of humour, pathos and a little bathos. The author called the book "Just for Fun' for two reasons. Firstly because that is the lead story and secondly because writing is fun-lots of fun and hopes that the reader has fun reading the book. The author was born in London, England and grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa. For the last 35 years influenced by the effects the Holocaust had on the Jewish people and by Zionism he has lived in Jerusalem, Israel. Antisemitism and the events occurring recently in Europe, particularly in France, have endorsed the author's convictions. Humour is important, we cannot live without it. However humour is not always universally understood, but the author has tried to keep the humour simple and it should translate into all cultures. Some of the stories were triggered by real life, like 'The Man in the Plastic Mask'-the author suffers from sleep apnea. The author's beautiful granddaughter inspired 'Abigail's Notebook'. The author is a hopeless romantic-no one is too old to fall in love-hence the story 'Ambushed'. Over the years the author has worked in the healthcare industry, and an incident many years ago gave rise to, 'Black Heart and Purple Hearts', 'All's fair in Love and War', 'Bedpans and Bandages', and' Limehill - South Africa'. South Africa inspired many of the stories, especially, 'Julia', 'Moses', 'Olga' and 'A Jew goes Forth'. Although not all the stories are biographical, the anthology is a mirror, although sometimes a little hazy, into the author's psyche.