It's helpful that the title page characterizes this debut volume by
NPR and magazine writer Goldstein as "(A Novel)," for otherwise the
reader might be even more perplexed by the assortment of bite-sized
vignettes, observations and non-sequiturs that challenges
categorization. Even the agile mind of the late Lenny Bruce (who
receives the briefest of name checks here) would have difficulty
determining what to make of this. The elliptical narrative was
first published in 2001 in Canada, where the Brooklyn-born author
lives. The anti-plot features a nondescript protagonist named Josh
who works at a fast-food dive called Burger Zoo. Josh's father is
Chick. Josh's mother is Frieda. Frieda is sick. Or dying. Or dead.
Josh's narrative makes such leaps of chronology and consciousness
that just when the reader has determined that Frieda has died, she
returns to life. Josh has a best friend named Kaliotzakis. Josh
also has a series of girlfriends, though except for the changes of
names as they come and go from these pages, it's difficult to
distinguish them. Josh has a rabbi with messianic aspirations who
sells something called Kosher-style Love Lotion. The Love Lotion
appears to be more repugnant than seductive. Sex is only one of the
bodily functions that obsesses Josh. Maybe Josh has no inner life
or maybe all he has is an inner life. Maybe all of this meandering
is a meditation on consciousness, or connectedness, or time as it
operates within the Mobius strip of the mind. Maybe it's designed
to subvert every expectation of narrative progression and character
development, as if those who perceive life and art in such linear
fashion haven't recognized that the illusion of linearity is itself
a trick of the mind. On occasion, Josh disappears, replaced by the
first-person narration of "I." Whether or not Josh is "I" doesn't
seem to mean more than anything else within this random, seemingly
arbitrary assemblage of paragraphs. Has the world gone mad? Has
Josh? Or has Goldstein? (Kirkus Reviews)
Presents a wry and comical snapshot of the mind of Josh, a rather
confused young man who must cope with his father's listlessness,
his own overwhelming lust, and the arrival of the Moschiach,
inventor of the infamous Love Lotion. Original.
General
Imprint: |
Counterpoint
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
February 2006 |
First published: |
February 2006 |
Authors: |
Jonathan Goldstein
|
Dimensions: |
181 x 128 x 12mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
200 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-58243-347-9 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
General & literary fiction >
Modern fiction
|
LSN: |
1-58243-347-X |
Barcode: |
9781582433479 |
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