His best known work is
Zikhron Devarim (1977), published in English in 1985 as
Past Continuous. Written as a single paragraph, it was the first novel in vernacular
Hebrew. Although the story is told in separate sentences, there is no separation into chapters. In its English translation the novel received international acclaim as a unique work of modernism, prompting critic
Gabriel Josipovici of
The Independent to name it the greatest novel of the decade, comparing it to
Proust's
In Search of Lost Time. Shabtai was a well-known playwright, author of
Crowned Head and
The Spotted Tiger. He translated many plays into Hebrew, including works by
Harold Pinter,
Neil Simon,
Noël Coward and
Eugene O'Neill. Other works by Shabtai include
Uncle Peretz Takes Off, a collection of short stories, and
Past Perfect (
Sof Davar), a continuation of
Past Continuous in terms of narrative and style, published
posthumously. In 2006 a collection of early stories was published under the title
A Circus in Tel Aviv. Shabtai's daughter Hamutal recalls him pacing the house reciting passages from his books to hear how they sounded. ==Awards and recognition==