by Leslie Epstein ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 17, 2006
Epstein’s best book since his 1979 triumph King of the Jews—a synthesis of history and imaginative daring, akin to Catch-22...
The fate of Italy’s Jews during World War II and the visionary folly of a truculent anti-Semitic genius are the subjects of Epstein’s sprawling, ambitious tenth novel.
The complex narrative juxtaposes three interconnected stories: the memories of aged Max Shabilian during a 2005 return flight to Rome, where he had become the de facto right-hand man (and son-in-law) of maverick American architect Amos Prince; the diary in which Prince recorded his experiences, insights and prejudices; and a chronological account of the rise and fall of Mussolini’s brutal Fascist dictatorship. Epstein’s maze-like approach—which begins with “A Prologue” recounting acts of aggrandizement from the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 1000 b.c. to Mussolini’s 1936 seizure of Ethiopia, and ends with a bitter summary of World War II’s waning days—takes some getting used to. But the story soars as we learn of Amos’s scheme to immortalize “Il Duce” by erecting a memorial mile-high skyscraper (La Vittoria) and realize that he’ll pay any price (not excluding the surrender of his beautiful daughter Aria to the dictator’s lust) to fulfill his grandiose dreams. And the story escalates to tragic proportions when Max (a Jew) conceives a plan to save captive Jews from being delivered to Italy’s ally the Third Reich, only to see it backfire, making him, not the savior he had hoped to be, but “Max the murderer.” Compelling (if sometimes overdrawn) extended scenes vividly portray the accumulating madness, and Epstein offers rich expressionistic characterizations of such startling figures as cantankerous Amos (who combines the worst qualities of Frank Lloyd Wright and Ezra Pound), his Fascist- and Nazi-loving son Franklin, Mussolini’s tempestuous Party Secretary Farinacci and politically savvy Chief Rabbi of Rome Israel Zolli (among many others).
Epstein’s best book since his 1979 triumph King of the Jews—a synthesis of history and imaginative daring, akin to Catch-22 and the encyclopedic historical fiction of Thomas Pynchon and William T. Vollmann.Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2006
ISBN: 1-59051-250-2
Page Count: 472
Publisher: Handsel/Other Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2006
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by J.D. Salinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1951
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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