fiction | David F. Cooper

Brief review: The Rabbi of Lud by Stanley Elkin

April 17, 2019

I’m taking a break from reading and reviewing new books to catch up with some old ones on my TBR list. I’m also trying to improve my Hebrew and am currently reading and enjoying the Hebrew edition of Ya’akov Shabtai’s unfinished last novel סוף דבר (published in English as Past Perfect). In circumstances when I […]

Book review: Muck by Dror Burstein

January 24, 2019

“… readers will enjoy this funny, imaginative, and handsomely crafted novel first and foremost as a memorable work of literature, and as such it deserves to reach a wide audience.” — From my review of Muck by Dror Burstein in New York Journal of Books

Book review: The Mandela Plot by Kenneth Bonert

June 4, 2018

“South African born Jewish-Canadian author Kenneth Bonert’s sophomore effort The Mandela Plot is a sequel to his multiple awards winning debut novel The Lion Seeker (also reviewed on NYJB) that continues the Helger family saga begun in the earlier volume in a rather dark combination coming of age story and political thriller. A concluding epilogue in the final […]

Book review: The Diamond Setter by Moshe Sakal

March 21, 2018

“… well written, masterfully translated by Jessica Cohen, and rewards rereading.” — From my review of The Diamond Setter by Moshe Sakal in New York Journal of Books

Book Review: Petty Business by Yirmi Pinkus

February 7, 2018

“Petty Business, the second of Yirmi Pinkus’ five novels and the first to be published in English, satirically portrays the life of a family of Tel Aviv store owners with both fondness and humor over one year—1989, a time in which neighborhood mom and pop stores were being put out of business by larger chain […]

Book review: How to Behave in a Crowd by Camille Bordas

August 20, 2017

“How to Behave in a Crowd will resonate with readers who grew up in large intellectual families, but it should also appeal to fiction readers interested not only in families but in learning how to find fulfillment by balancing the life of the mind with life among others in the world outside oneself.” — from my […]

Book Review: Moving Kings by Joshua Cohen

July 11, 2017

“Though Moving Kings is considerably shorter and more accessible—with less erudite but nonetheless stimulating vocabulary, similes, and fewer stream of consciousness run-on sentences—than Cohen’s previous novel Book of Numbers (also reviewed on NYJB) it, too, skillfully weaves descriptive character portraits and plot lines into a novel of ideas that addresses issues as diverse as capitalism, gentrification, army veterans, the […]

Book review: The Man Who Never Stopped Sleeping by Aharon Appelfeld

February 9, 2017

“With its universal themes of healing, recovery, creativity, and finding one’s vocation The Man Who Never Stopped Sleeping should engage the wide readership Appelfeld’s prose deserves. Readers may want to buy extra copies and donate them to VA hospitals.” — from my review in New York Journal of Books.

Book review: Recitation by Bae Suah

January 25, 2017

“After two novellas translated into English (Nowhere to be Found, 2015 and A Greater Music, 2016, the latter reviewed in NYJB) South Korean post-modernist fiction writer Bae Suah and British translator Deborah Smith—who also translated A Greater Music and two novels by Han Kang (The Vegetarian and Human Acts)—return with an even more ambitious full […]

Book review: A Greater Music by Bae Suah

October 20, 2016

“Bae’s prose alternates between detailed descriptions of everyday life and ruminative passages on music, ideas, and her character’s mental state. The late American poet William Matthews once described his taste in literature as a preference for prosy poetry and poetic prose. A Greater Music exemplifies the latter category; it requires and amply rewards rereading.” — […]