It’s not just that Hope: A Tragedy by Shalom Auslander is a funny Holocaust novel (yes, you read that correctly, and it is extremely funny), it’s that its main protagonist manages to ask the really big, really important questions while remaining somehow tender, paranoid, and hopelessly human at the same time.
Set in rural New York and populated by a small cast of superbly vivid characters – including perhaps the most famous victim of the Holocaust, who turns out to be very much alive and continuing her diaries – this is a fast-paced, well-constructed and strangely delightful story.
It’s possible for a novel to be all at once hilarious, twisted, wonderful and mordantly true. Hope: A Tragedy proves it.
FTC Disclosure: This review was based on a copy of the book that I received from the publisher.
Chick lit – and this is very much chick lit – can be funny, intelligent and plumb greater emotional depths than pastel-colored covers suggest, but it can also be vapid and poorly written.
Point, Click, Love by
Molly Shapiro falls into the first category.
(Nothing in this genre will ever surpass
Laura Zigman for me. But I’d put Shapiro on par with
Anna Maxted and
Sarah Mlynowski. With some wiggle room if you’ll read anything about internet dating.)
Lacking in literary merit, sure, but who wants literary merit all the time? I’ll try to read anything, and there’s a reason for it. This is a warmhearted and engaging novel — a light book, which is not that same as a book to be taken lightly.
FTC Disclosure: This review was based on a copy of the book that I received from the publisher.
The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories by Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a tiny (what were you expecting?), enjoyable read. Something heartbreaking, sometimes hilarious, sometimes just plain weird, this little gem of a book should be forgiven for the few places it falls short and enjoyed for the small pleasures it offers, overall.
Brain Pickings has a lovely round-up of page shots and video from the book, if you’re so inclined.
FTC Disclosure: This review was based on a copy of the book that I received from the publisher.
It’s not just that Hope: A Tragedy by Shalom Auslander is a funny Holocaust novel (yes, you read that correctly, and it is extremely funny), it’s that its main protagonist manages to ask the really big, really important questions while remaining somehow tender, paranoid, and hopelessly human at the same time.
