Prime Minister Elihu Barzel is confronted with
There isn't much plot in.hat's basically a dual char-
but Gould wants what he wants. "Women have had them
newed
attacks from Muslim fundamentalists. His an
acter
study,
and
what
little
there
is
flops
around
like
a
under worse conditions; paralyzed; in iron lungs," he tells
beached carp in the last quarter of the novel. But the two swer to preserving Israel's security is a secret plan call
her. "Three's *hat I always wanted; three's"the best."
writer, the read
Gould's attraction for women is a mystery; he isn't de- lovers are appealing enough that you wish them well The Project. To' r. Chafets' credit as a will
unfold.
The Project
scribed as especially good-looking, and he never shuts and want to find out what happens to them. Mr. Rosen er only slowly learns how
To
implement
"The
Project,"
Barzel
feels
that he must
also
has
a
good
eye
and
ear,
giving
the
novel
distinc-
up. He's selectively obtuse: when his hostage lover ex-
affect the outcome of the next U.S. presidential election.
plains that marrying someone who doesn't love him would tive characters and sharply observed New York locations.
A note: This is the first novel I've read in years writ- The candidate of his choice is either a Republican fun-
just make him miserable, he snaps, "Speak English." I
ten
by a Jewish man in which a young, contemporary damentalist Christian, or his opponent, the incumbent
don't get it; the women in the novel aren't morons, and
Jewish man and Jewish woman are involved in a loving, Dewey Goldberg, the first American Jewish president
the sex can't be that good.
Throughout most of the book, the reader is led to believe
Selfish, unappealing characters have driven some ter- committed relationship. That shouldn't be remarkable, that Barzel's candidate will win the election. However,
rific novels, but this isn't one of them. (Mr. Dixon also but it is.
—Ellen Jaffe McClain Barzel must keep his undue influence, as well as his real
burdens readers with his signature style of endless, run-
identity, a secret.
on sentences — the first paragraph ends on page 26 —
While most of the book is taken up with Barzel's plan,
and miles of tedious, repetitive dialogue.)
the reader also learns about the prime minister's past.
Lacking the panache of a Sammy Glick or an Alex `Mrs. Hornstein'
His identity is revealed only near the end of the book.
Portnoy, Gould Bookbinder is just a creep, and reading
Mr. Chafets' characters are well developed, and the read-
By Frederica Wagman
about him is a chore and a bore.
Henry Holt, 117 pgs., $14.95.
er is treated to the author's adept integration into his fic-
Mrs. Hornstein is a novel tion of the Holocaust, the birth of Israel, Nazi hunting,
just
over
100
pages,
t
—Ellen Jaffe McClain
"lite." Like its food counterpart, it's vaguely sim- and the obstacles before a American Jewish president.
Although the book concludes a little too abruptly and
ilar to the real thing and is not very satisfying.
is
the
author
of
"Embracing
the
Ellen Jaffe McClain
neatly,
it deserves four stars.
The
book
is
narrated
by
Marty
Fish,
whom
we
Stranger: Intermarriage and the Future of the
meet as a shy 17-year-old on the verge of her marriage
American Jewish Community" (BasicBooks, 1995),
to Albert Hornstein. Her prospective mother-in-law is Steven Bernstein is a free-lance writer
and the young-adult novel "No Big Deal" (Puffin,
the formidable Golda, a woman her children call "the based in Pittsburgh.
1997).
boss lady." The Hornstein, who made their
money in cigars, live in a lavish apartment 'Laws of Return'
overlooking Rittenhouse Square in Philadel-
By Cameron Stracher
phia — the kind of place that would be di-
William Morrow, 256 pgs., $23. -
vided into three condominiums today.
ameron Stracher's first novel demonstantes that
Marty's widowed mother lives in shabby
a Jew never wanders far from his/her Jewish iden-
gentility in a Main Line suburb. The social
tity. The essence of this excellent book is summed
divisions, especially pronounced in many
up on the last page: "Each human life narrates an
Jewish communities in the 1940s and '50s, apocryphal tale. We wake. We rise. We re-create. Our
are clearly drawn here: Both families are grandfathers deal us their hand. When we shuffle the
Jewish, but it is critical for Mrs. Hornstein deck, the same cards peer back at us." For some Amer-
to know whether Marty's family is Russian ican Jews, shuffling that deck can mean assimilating
Jewish or German Jewish. Marty's late fa- into American society.
ther was a doctor, but again Mrs. Hornstein
The protagonist, Colin Stone, is a third-generation
needs to know what kind of doctor. .
American Jew. His family has a Christmas tree and his
In the midst of all this angst, Marty tries father recites the Lord's Prayer regularly. Colin grows
to make other plans. She's been accepted to up untouched by Judaism and Jewish culture. Howev-
• the University of Pennsylvania, but can't af- er, his Jewish identity looms in the background.
ford to attend. Plan B is to go to Israel With
To emphasize the point, Mr. Stone cleverly intertwines
a friend and fall in love on a kibbutz. How- the novel's Jewish aspects with the plot. Colin's Jew-
ever, there is a formidable roadblock — Mar- ishness is mentioned in almost every chapter. He grap-
ty's widowed mother, who is as desperate ples with his identity in explanations about his seemingly
about men as she is about money.
non-Jewish appearance, his confusion over being Jew-
When Albert finally proposes to Marty, ish in America and his romance with a Norwegian
Mrs. Hornstein draws her curtains and woman. At one point, this woman tells him that anti-
takes to her bed for a week. Marty's moth- Semitism is the result of Jews keeping themselves apart
er promptly dispenses advice on sex and how from the rest of society. Colin eventually falls in love with
to skim the house money so Marty can pass a Jewish woman, and confronts his anti-Semitic boss.
on some of it to her. Marriage, says Mrs. Fish (in let-
The book alsO is outrageously funny and Mr. Stancher
ters that are capitalized just in case we miss the point), has a talent for making a point through surreal situa-
`Eve's Apple'
is "A BUSINESS DEAL PLAIN AND SIMPLE, and in tions. Although kis occasionally difficult to distinguish
this case the deal is with a man who is a millionaire 20 between Colin's thoughts and objective reality, Laws of
By Jonathan Rosen
times OVER."
Random House, 309 pgs., $24.
Return is still a must read. 0
Marty marries Albert, and with one tragic exception
ating disorders may seem like unappetizing sub-
jects for a novel, but Jonathan Rosen, cultural ed- she lives happily ever after: She becomes the next Mrs.
itor of The Forward newspaper, does a compelling Hornstein. Life is cyclical, but luckily this story ends be-
1 job of showing the personality behind the pathol- fore that point is also made in capital letters.
ogy in this character-driven debut.
The narrator is Joseph Timmerman, a 24-year-old who
spends much of his energy involved in the care and at- 'The Project'
tempted feeding of his college sweetheart and roommate,
By Zev Chafets
Ruth Simon. Joseph, the nicest young Jewish guy to come
Warner Books, 261 pgs., $24.
down the fictional pike since Chaim Potok's Asher Lev,
has his own ghost to contend with—his sister, who com-
STEVEN BERNSTEIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
mitted suicide 10 years earlier, at age 16.
Joseph awakens to the fact that Ruth is falling into
ave you ever wondered what will happen in
the same behavior that landed her in the hospital as a
the year 2000? Do you believe that there will
teenager. Confronting her with that behavior, and try- ,
be a final battle between the forces of good
ing to rescue her from it dearly .:re attempts to atone for
and evil? Zev Chafets' new thriller provides
his sister's death, though he denies being damaged by an entertaining look at the possibilities.
it.
C