New York Journal of Books | David F. Cooper

Book review: Judas by Amos Oz

November 27, 2016

“For Oz’s fans and liberal Zionist fiction readers Judas is a required text whose writing is its own reward.” — from my review of in New York Journal of Books I devote more of my review to the novel’s historical background and what I infer is its contemporary political message, and consequently less to its […]

Book review: The Lost Civilization of Suolucidir by Susan Daitch

July 19, 2016

The Lost Civilization of Suolucidir by Susan Daitch Jul 19, 2016 · David Cooper‘s review bookshelves: international-settings, jewish, post-modern, historical-fiction, mysteries, cerebral-fiction “After reading The Lost Civilization of Suolucidir readers will want to start over again to see what details they may have missed the first time through, and yes, this richly crafted and handsomely […]

Jewish books: in Max’s Diamonds family secrets stalk its ambitious protagonist

May 30, 2016

“Max’s Diamonds, Jay Greenfield’s debut novel published last week by New York publisher Chickadee Prince Books, is a guilty pleasure, a book I enjoyed and could barely put down for its suspenseful serpentine plot despite its pedestrian and occasionally heavy-handed prose.” — From my examiner article (starting in the next paragraph). Also see my New […]

Jewish books: Fishman and Tsabari explore home and displacement in new fiction

March 25, 2016

In my examiner article (next paragraph) I write: “Two fiction books published this month explore what home means for two distinct waves of recent immigrants. Boris Fishman continues to relate the experiences of Russian speaking Jews who immigrated to America in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s in his second novel Don’t Let My Baby Do Rodeo, […]

Israeli books: Youval Shimoni’s experimental post-modern fiction classic A Room

March 24, 2016

In my New York Journal of Books review of Youval Shimoni‘s A Room I write: “A Room is strongly recommended to readers of post-modern and experimental fiction who enjoy stream of consciousness narratives and who are willing to delve deeper than a thin plot’s surface level.” Read that review first. Additional excerpts from the novel and […]

Jewish books: Gyorgy Spiro’s Captivity portrays First Century Roman Jewry

December 31, 2015

My review of Captivity by György Spiró appears in New York Journal of Books. Read that review first. Additional remarks that appeared in a different and now defunct publication begin with the next paragraph. Jewish books: Gyorgy Spiro’s Captivity portrays First Century Roman Jewry Was there ever an era like the current one when Jews […]

91 year old William Gass’ prose is still gorgeous in Eyes: Novellas and Stories

November 5, 2015

My review of William Gass’ new book of short fiction appears in New York Journal of Books. Read that review first. Additional remarks (including a longer excerpt from the book and additional biographical info about Gass) that appeared in a different and now defunct publication begin with the next paragraph. 91 year old William Gass’ prose is […]

Jewish books: Joshua Cohen’s Book of Numbers is a high tech epic

July 16, 2015

What happens when a down on his luck luddite novelist is hired to ghostwrite a memoir by a math whiz tech mogul who shares his (and the author of this novel’s) name? …At close to 600 pages of dense prose Book of Numbers is not light reading. I close my NYJB review by recommending it […]

Books: Nell Zink’s smart and witty 2nd novel Mislaid

May 19, 2015

“Looking for a brainy yet breezy novel that addresses gender, race, and class issues with levity and has a happy ending? Try Nell Zink’s Mislaid, her second published novel following her critically well-received debut The Wallcreeper in 2014.” — from my New York Journal of Books book review: Mislaid: A Novel by Nell Zink “To […]

Israeli books: Gail Hareven’s Lies, First Person is a visceral novel of ideas

February 13, 2015

“There are books that make us feel intensely and others that make us think deeply; one that does both is Gail Hareven’s opalescent and psychologically complex eleventh novel Lies, First Person (in the original Hebrew Hashkarim Ha’aharonim Shel Hagoof which literally translates as The Body’s Last Lies), which is only the second (The Confessions […]