Max Baer and the Star of David
A Novel
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Mandel Vilar Press
Published:17th Mar '16
Currently unavailable, our supplier has not provided us a restock date
EVENTS NYPL – March 21 at 6:30pm. “Shadowboxing with History: The Conundrum of Fiction vs. Non-Fiction” a conversation with Jay Neugeboren and Jerome Charyn, moderated by Paul Hond Book Culture (536 W. 112th St) – February 17 at 7pm Greenport Public Library (East End, Long Island) – February 13 CONFIRMED Columbia College Today – they will include a write-up in an upcoming Bookshelf column. Booksies Blog – Sandie Kirkland will let me know when her review posts. Library Journal – it has been assigned for an online Xpress Review. Jewishfiction.net – Excerpt ran in the February issue http://www.jewishfiction.net/index.php/publisher/articleview/frmArticleID/460 Bookgoodies.com – Jay filled out the author questionnaire Jewish Book Council’s blog – included in their Spring 2016 Preview:http://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/_blog/The_ProsenPeople/post/spring-2016-bookshelf/ Foreword Reviews (https://www.forewordreviews.com/) – review is planned for Spring issue, which ships 2/19. The issue will also be distributed at BEA and the Bologna Children's Book Fair. Foreword Reviews is on newsstands at 398 Barnes & Noble and 250 Books-A-Million stores and reaches a combination of 15,000 librarians, booksellers (including 1100 IndieBound members) and readers. This review journal began in 1998 and focuses on books published by independent publishers. Historical Novel Review (http://historicalnovelreview.blogspot.com/) – they will include a review in their May issue. Bookpleasures.com – he will post his review on this blog and on Amazon. Boxing.com – Jay will let Adam Berlin know to run the review close to pub date. Moment Magazine – will review (sent email 12/7 to find out when review will run) Kirkus – ran in 12/1 issue. Blunderbuss – will run a storification of a chapter of the novel. Commonweal – ran a storification of a chapter of the novel. Hadassah – Sanford Pinsker will review for Hadassah. On 12/16 Ann emailed that he just finished the review and she’ll let me know when they get the info about when it will run. Jewish Book Council – they would love for you to participate in their Visiting Scribe series, which involves writes 3 guest blog posts that they’ll post close to pub date. They will be in touch at a later date to confirm all of the details. CONSIDERING Forward – Jay was in touch with Adam Langer who said that the novel is definitely on his radar. Leonard Lopate – the producer said she will consider an interview but asked that I touch base about a month before pub date. I have sent to emails to the executive producer. Tablet – Matthew Fishbane has received the galley and follow-up email. He’s working on more immediate deadlines right now but if Tablet decides to cover the book in some way, they’ll let us know. I also left a message for Alana Newhouse, who is the editor in chief. Brooklyn Rail – they want to do a review, interview and/or excerpt. Jewish Book World – considering a review in the print and online editions. Jewish Review of Books – they will consider for the Spring 2016 issue. Rain Taxi – the book has been received and they are considering, a process that can take up to 6 months. NOT INTERESTED The American Scholar – they don’t review fiction, but Robert Wilson wishes Jay the best of luck J Bronder Blog SHORT LEADS CONTACTED: The Denver Post Chicago Tribune Atlanta Journal Constitution The New York Review of Books The New York Times The Jewish Wek The Washington Post The Washington Times San Francisco Chronicle Tablet USA Today Midwest Book Review San Francisco Examiner The Jewish news Weekly of Northern CA Los Angeles Review of Books New York Post The American Jewish World Minneapolis Star Tribune Commonweal The Boston Globe American Scholar Manhattan Book Review Bookforum The Philadelphia Inquirer Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles The Reporter Group The Daily Beast The Huffington Post The Forward Columbia College Today New York Journal of Books New York Daily News New York Metro BookTrib Boston Herald The Jewish Advocate Jewish Exponent Jewish Book Council/Visiting Scribe Series JEWISH NEWSPAPERS CONTACTED: Empire Publishing Corporation Los Angeles Jewish News Jewish News of Greater Phoenix JUF News Arizona Jewish Post Jewish Herald-Voice Intermountain Jewish News Jewish Currents Chicago Jewish Star Texas Jewish Post The Jewish Chronicle Jewish Leader Kansas City Jewish Chronicle Washington Jewish Week The Cleveland Jewish News Baltimore Jewish Times New Jersey Jewish Media Group The Cleveland Jewish News Heritage Florida Jewish News South Florida Jewish Journal LONG LEADS CONTACTED: Kirkus Reviews Library Journal Publishers Weekly Booklist The Wall Street Journal New York Times Book Review New York Times Bloomsbury Review Chicago Tribune Foreword Reviews The Jewish Forward LA Times Washington Post Bookforum AARP Magazine Poets & Writers New York Review of Books San Francisco Chronicle O, The Oprah Magazine Shelf Awareness Leonard Lopate Show – with link to Robert’s obituary and angle of discussing fiction and nonfiction writing NPR, Weekend Edition – with link to Robert’s obituary and angle of discussing fiction and nonfiction writing Diane Rehm – with link to Robert’s obituary and angle of discussing fiction and nonfiction writing Commonweal Los Angeles Review of Books Boston Globe The Jewish Week Tablet Columbia Magazine Slate Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles Center for Fiction Moment Magazine New York Magazine Rain Taxi Review of Books The Brooklyn Rail The Believer ESPN Online Electric Literature Hadassah Magazine Harper’s Houston Chronicle Jewish Book World Hemispheres Rhapsody Salon Sports Illustrated Sportsnation ESPN2 Tampa Bay Times The Atlantic Barnes & Noble Review The Daily Beast Dallas Morning News Jewish Review of Books The Ring Manhattan Book Review USA Today LA Daily News (Tim Rutten) BLOGS CONTACTED: St. Louis Book Blog - St. Louis Post-Dispatch The New York Times Arts Beat blog Book Nook Bookviews by Alan Caruba The Best Reviews The Literary Saloon MyShelf.com Lost For Words So Many Books Book Patrol Night Owl Reviews Shelf Unbound My Book Addiction and More! Book Pleasures Booklist Online Armchair Interviews Pop Goes Fiction Novel Rocket Historical Novels Review Biblio File BookRiot USA Book News BookTrib Vancouver Sun Books Blog On Books Book Snob JBronderBookReviews Babbling About Books and More Rhapsody in Books Good Books & Good Wine S. Krishna's Books A Bookish Affair PhiloBiblos Unshelved A Bookworm's World Bookslut Thrifty Reader Bookshipper Gossamer Obessions Omnivoracious BookLoons Literary Magic Bookgasm Beth's Book Reviews The Story Siren Gently Read Literature Everyday I Write The Book The Reading Matters/Charlotte Observer Fresh Fiction Postcards From Purgatory Bustle The Librarian That Doesn't Say Shhh Beth Fish Reads Big Al's Books and Pals BTS Book Review The Broke and the Bookish Blue Stalking A Dream Within a Dream Luxury Reading Booksies Blog 5 Minutes for Books The Millions A Little Blog of Books The Skimm
Mixing fictional and historical characters this haunting story is about Max Baer's life in and out of the boxing ring.In this bewitching tale, fictional characters,the African American couple Horace and Joleen Littlejohn, interact with a real historical character, boxing champion Max Baer. Presenting themselves as husband and wife, Horace and Joleen are, in fact, brother and sister. They become constant companions and sometime lovers to Max in this story about Max's life in and out of the ring.
"With Max Baer and the Star of David, Jay Neugeboren creates a pair of distinctive fictional characters and deposits them into the life of the legendary Depression-era boxer. The writing is strong and the characters memorable... Despite the title, Baer is only a side character in the story. The book includes the key milestones in his boxing career--the fight that killed Baer's opponent Frankie Campbell, the clash with German fighter Max Schmeling from which the book gets its title, the surprise loss to James Braddock... But Baer's life is mostly used to provide an outline for the story of Neugeboren's fictional narrator, Horace Littlejohn...The real story...is Horace's. He confronts family patterns and fights some important battles outside the ring. The author tells this story well."--JEFF FLEISCHER, Foreword Reviews "Max Baer and the Star of David is a novel, nominally about its titular character, a boxer who wore a Star of David on his shorts and gave fatal blows to two fighters...The true hero of the book is imagination, which allows all characters escape from their lives. The facts behind the plot of the novel are true...Seeing all the real drama in this character's life, it is hard to imagine what more a fiction writer could add. Jay Neugeboren, however, delivers expanded blows in prose...The book is much more than sports writing. Commentary on the Song of Songs is woven into its pages, as is discussion of love -- both of the heterosexual and homosexual variety, sometimes by the same character, as well as interracial relationships. A blind character is in there too, as well as incest and disguised identities, which appear as themes...Even readers who don't think themselves interested in sports will enjoy the descriptions and plot developments... For any reader who cares about good writing and imagination, lover of boxing or not, Max Baer and the Star of David is required reading."--BETH KISSILEFF, The Jerusalem Post "Author Jay Neugeboren is as unsettling as he is prolific. His latest novel, Max Baer and the Star of David, intertwines the historical with the fabricated. It tells the story of Max Baer, who became heavyweight champion of the world in 1934, and the fictional Horace Littlejohn, an early sparring partner of Baer's and lifelong confidant... Horace, the novel's narrator, takes readers through the ins-and-outs of many Baer fights... Baer stood as a powerful American Jewish symbol of the growing war that would pit freedom against fascism. Small wonder that Jews identified with, and took pleasure in, Baer and his victory (although he had only one Jewish grandfather). At the same time, Neugeboren's novel is fiction. The Littlejohns' dialogue is lyrical and sophisticated, their speech intertwined with phrases from the Song of Songs. Baer, on the other hand, is a diamond-in-the-rough who sounds like Jake LaMotta in the film Raging Bull. Max Baer & The Star of David is counterintuitive in the way that Horace tells the tale of his sister and his best friend. Readers expecting a traditional account of the boxer's life will be disappointed. But those who let their imaginations open up to this often-strange tale will find it both exciting and illuminating."--Sanford Pinsker, Hadassah Magazine. "Neugeboren has never been better than in this lush, joyful novel--as erotic and mysterious as The Song of Songs, and as clear as a heavyweight champion's punch in the gut. I loved it."--ROBERT LIPSYTE, author of An Accidental Sportswriter "Max Baer and the Star of David is a strange and strangely beautiful tale that conjures up a golden era of boxing in the way A. J. Liebling did in The Sweet Science. I was enchanted from start to finish, and when I closed the book I thought 'Damn, this dude can write!'" --GARY SHTEYNGART, author of Little Failure: A Memoir "This lively, high-spirited novel is an irresistible tribute to the sweet science, and a thrillingly jaunty evocation of an almost forgotten era. Neugeboren has, as always, the gift of creating vivid characters and the imagination to put them through delicious travails."--PHILLIP LOPATE, author of Portrait Inside My Head "One of the most accomplished and original writers of our time, Jay Neugeboren has now outdone even himself. With its larger-than-life characters who are all too human, Max Baer and the Star of David is a powerful and starkly gritty literary page-turner. Sorry, but I can't resist--this novel is a total knockout."--BINNIE KIRSCHENBAUM, Hester Among the Ruins "Max Baer and The Star of David reside at the rough, mysterious edge between history and myth. The book will bewitch readers with its own powerful song and haunting love story, filled with regret and a deep rage against America's racial sins, past and present."--JEROME CHARYN, author of I Am Abraham 'Neugeboren's latest novel will captivate readers through its language and the characters' complicated relationships.'--Edyt Dickstein, Jewish Book Council "Max Baer and the Star of David is a novel first, a boxing novel second. And that's how it should be for a novel whose title character may have been more famous for his out-of-ring escapades than his pugilistic career. The real fighters in this novel are the people that surround Max, Horace and Joleen and a woman Horace falls for as a middle-aged man...Novelists fill in the senses; they make the unreal real. Jay Neugeboren takes old fight-film footage, removes the graininess, introduces color, helps us hear and see the men and women behind the man, as well as the man himself, Max Baer, whose life was as colorful as the deep blue star emblazoned on his trunks."---Adam Berlin in Boxing.com author of the boxing novel, Both Members of the Club (Winner of the Clay Reynolds Novella Prize) The writing of successful historical fiction is the sweet science of turning real-world figures into believable, fascinating characters and of molding the known events of their lives into dramatic stories. Max Baer and the Star of David...is an exciting blend of fact and fiction... with its fancy footwork: a cast of characters that combat my blood-sport stereotypes and a plot that blocks, ducks, and jabs at just the right times. Is it a knockout of a novel? Not quite, but it wins on points...(and while) I still need some convincing that boxing is truly a "sweet science," Max Baer and the Star of David is definitely an example of the sweet science of plotting and writing excellent fiction. That Neugeboren is a master practitioner of this science, there is no doubt.--Jason Hess, NewPages.com Neugeboren has created fictional characters that interact with boxing champion Max Baer. At the center of the novel are two mysterious and memorable fictional creations, Horace and Joleen Littlejohn, who were constantly with Baer and who presented themselves to the world as husband and wife, when, in fact, they were brother and sister. They become best friends and sometime lovers to Max in this dazzling story about the world of boxing, and about Max's life in and out of the ring. Horace is the narrator of the story and he takes us into an interracial love triangle that is set in a world where love and violence are part of the way things happen. So we not only learn about the golden age of boxing but also about breaking a taboo. The characters are epic and the story is fascinating, one that you will want to read over and over again.--Amos Lassen, Judaica
ISBN: 9781942134176
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 340g
208 pages