GOLEM

by Myles Eric Ludwig ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 7, 1969

Another mattress-and-mazuzah psyche-dredging and a Portmanteau of complaints. ""Golem"" is the unlikely moniker of the young JEWISH protagonist; and ""Golem,"" for those not yet snuggled into the Jewish identity pouch, means ""a robot, a lifeless figure"" (cf. Rosten). The Golem clatters through a sterile marriage, and finally, using his wife's recent single act of unfaithfulness, takes off for the small town of Odessa, Georgia. (Back to the old roots--get it?) Although coached in Diasporic duties by the town's only Jew, and practicing non-communicative sex with a married woman, Golem breaks into Spontaneous Acts--picks a fight, deflowers a virgin in a sound studio where he has been a DJ. By a shattering coincidence his return home to Mother, memories of Father, and wife occurs on Yom Kippur. All passion hitherto spent inconclusively, Golem shoots up the synagogue, attacking the image of a forgiving God. This is a lengthy exploration of a hazy angst, and although there is a general cleverness and wit, it's mainly a rerun of other more popular investigations of the American-Jewish experience.

Pub Date: July 7, 1969

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Weybright & Talley

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1969

Categories: FICTION