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Colorful characters, crazy hijinks, loads of literary gags and callouts create an energetic, fast-paced read in this novel. Peeking above and below all that merrymaking, from time to time, is the story of one still-secular Jew, searching, pondering the ancient texts, challenged to jibe his love affair with American culture with a personal identity that transcends time and place, to frequently hilarious effect.
- Yael English, JewishWorldReview.com, January 15, 2020
Yael English is a Modernism scholar who received her Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, where she also taught.
The Idiom and the Oddity is imaginative, funny, insightful and perceptive - a brilliant tour de force. It is a must-read - excellent medicine for the mind and the heart.
Rabbi Dr. Emanuel Feldman, editor emeritus of Tradition magazine, Rabbi Emeritus of Beth Jacob Synagogue, Atlanta, Georgia
Writings in the Jewish tradition are multi-dimensional - they can be read on many levels and with many connections. The Idiom and the Oddity is an essay in that tradition. There is history - mid-century Jewish New York, plus allusions to many other periods. There is psychology - of varied figures individually and in interactions, and developing [unlike the failed Lord of the Rings]. There is Torah philosophy - some explicit and very much implicit. There is great literary expertise. There is challenging word usage [I wouldn’t call it play]. There is a compelling plot - I couldn’t put it down. And much more.
- Rabbi David Gottlieb Rabbi David Gottlieb received his Ph.D. at Brandeis University, formerly Professor of Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University Senior Lecturer, Ohr Somayach.
Bottom line it’s a demanding read. But it’s literature … The hero of the book is
clearly Reb Shimshon. Although he initially comes across as a quaint, somewhat laughable relic of a vestigial past, over the course of the novel he rises to his full, majestic height. His concluding monologue - six pages of heavily accented of Yiddish rage, uninterrupted by even a single paragraph break - is one of the most chilling, sustained and memorable passages in the entire book.
- Dr. Henry Abramson, Orthodox Union OU Life Online Magazine September 24, 2079. Dr. Henry Abramson, Dean of Touro College, Brooklyn, N.Y. PhD history University of Toronto
