In June, 2006, Picador launch Picador Shots, a new series of pocket-sized books priced at £1. The Shots aim to promote the short story as well as the work of some Picador's greatest authors. They will be contemporarily packaged but ultimately disposable books that are the ideal literary alternative to a magazine. Shalom Auslander's two short stories from his collection, Beware of God, make up one of the first Picador Shots.
'Holocaust tips for Kids' is a deeply moving but hysterically funny story about a young boy who mistakes Holocaust rememberance day as Emergency preparedness training for the future whilst the 'Smithe the Heathens, Charlie Brown' is a serious look at the nature of racism and the Holocaust through the not so serious medium of Charlie Brown.
Praise for Beware of God:
"Beware of God is a fearlessly entertaining book, riffing on sex, death and shame, as well as some of the more solipsistic elements of Judaism. " Observer
"The collection dazzles because it is skilfully outrageous in taking Judaism - and theism in general - well beyond its usual parameters." Financial Times
