David Duvshani

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David Duvshani is a painter and comic artist, a graduate of the Beaux-Arts Academy in Paris and the Master’s program in art at Bezalel. His works have been exhibited in Israel and around the world.

He published a comic column in Tohu magazine and in Haaretz newspaper, together with writer Julia Fermentto-Tzaisler, with whom he also wrote the graphic novel Butcher Shop of Spirits (Tangier Publishing). In 2018, his book The Crusades was published in France (Hoosh Publishing).

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Butcher Shop of Spirits

Graphic Novel

Publisher: Tangier

Year: 2023

78 pp.

 

Translation rights: World  
Audio visual rights: World

Translations: Partial English translation available.

 

Shuki and Zisel are the owners of “Hip on Thigh”, a kosher butcher shop in Jerusalem. Some of their loyal customers include the sought-after widower Liezer-Wolf, the brilliant seminary student Fanny Fillet, and Masha Cholent. At the end of each workday, Shuki and Zisel count their earnings and take pleasure in their piles of cash. But not everything is as sweet as honey. One day, the customers stop coming, the meat spoils, and the debts pile up, and on top of it all - they discover that some of their customers disappeared. At the same time, at the Capital police station, Detective Danielle Drumstick receives a missing person report. Together with her loyal assistants, Ricky and Micky, she uncovers shocking and confusing details that make the case much more complex than it initially seemed…

 

The graphic novel Butcher Shop of Spirits humorously combines detective stories with Jewish mysticism, connecting Eastern European Jewish folklore with contemporary Israeli culture. The graphic novel is drawn entirely in ink, with vivid colors and a free-spirited, non-realistic style. It draws inspiration from Marc Chagall’s paintings and the dark aesthetics of film noir. It is a novel where, literally, the demon stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer meet the detective stories of Israeli author Dror Mishani. On one hand, the plot is rooted in a Jewish, traditional, and folkloric world where the spirits of rabbis play a role in reality. On the other hand, it takes place at the Capital police station in Jerusalem, as we dive into a local crime investigation. The fusion of Jewish folklore with Israeli detective fiction creates a funny and original literary-aesthetic encounter. The book was shortlisted for Best Book of the Year by Treisar, an annual award celebrating the finest Israeli book designs.

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Critical Praise

 

The graphic novel Butcher Shop of Spirits is simply a delight. Humor, Yiddish, Jewish mysticism, bite-sized detective tales, Eastern European folklore with a twist of Agatha Christie, all come together in a colorful, playful spectacle. Every panel brims with detail, while the comic itself runs wild with sharp, irreverent humor, splashed in ink, vivid colors, and a loose, fantastical style… Butcher Shop of Spirits blends the Jewish traditional and folkloric world with the modern vibe of a Jerusalem crime investigation, turning it into a bold, contemporary creation that feels completely relevant to this moment in time in Israel.

Maya Guez, Yediot Aharonot

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A gripping and funny tale set in a kosher butcher shop in Jerusalem, blending Jewish folklore with a detective story, where the characters are torn between the sacred and the profane.

Portfolio Magazine

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Butcher Shop of Spirits serves up heaps of meat — the flesh slaughtered in the ultra-Orthodox butcher shop run by Shuki and Zissel, and the carnal appetites of their loyal clientele. Julia Fermentto-Tzaisler and David Duvshani, who created the work together, blend Jewish folklore, detective fiction, humor, and the grotesque into a rich, layered narrative.

Yuval Avivi and Maya Sela, "Ma SheCaruch" Podcast

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