false 29788 9 <I>For the Relief of Unbearable Urges</I> is an astonishment. Whether Nathan Englander is creating the last days of 27 condemned Soviet writers or the first in which a Park Avenue lawyer finds religion (in a taxi, no less), his gift is everywhere in evidence. Englander's specialty is the collision of Jewish law and tradition with secular realities, whether in Brooklyn, Tel Aviv, or Stalinist Russia. In one tale, a wigmaker from an ultra-orthodox Brooklyn enclave journeys into Manhattan for supplies and, more importantly, inspiration -- frequenting a newsstand where she pays for the right to flip through forbidden fashion magazines. If all Ruchama wants to do is be beautiful again and momentarily free of communal constraints, others ask only to survive. In "The Tumblers," set in World War II Poland (with a metafictional twist), followers of the Mahmir Rebbe get into a train filled with circus performers rather than into a cattle car. Their only chance is to camouflage themselves as part of the troupe: <i>Their acceptance as acrobats was a stretch, a first-glance guess, a benefit of the doubt granted by circumstance and only as valuable as their debut would prove. It was an absurd undertaking. But then again, Mendel thought, no more unbelievable than the reality from which they'd escaped, no more unfathomable than the magic of disappearing Jews. </i> Another story, "Reb Kringle," is almost breezy by comparison. Each year, one Brooklynite dreads his holiday job from hell, playing Santa Claus in a Manhattan department store: "There were elves posted on each side of Itzik; one -- a humorless, muscular midget -- wore a pair of combat boots that gave him the look of elf-at-arms. His companion might have been a twin. He wore black high-tops but had the same vigilant paramilitary demeanor." Itzik can put up with the children's accidents and greed, with his sciatica, and even with a mischief maker's attempt to cut off his beard. But when one boy admits that what he really wants to do is celebrate Hanukkah, "the infamous Reb Santa" loses it. Though this is undoubtedly the collection's lightest piece -- proof positive that you have to be a saint to be a Jewish Santa -- it is no less piercing an examination of identity and obligation than Englander's more heavyweight entries. <I>--Kerry Fried</I> 80586 1999 For the Relief of Unbearable Urges: Stories total:527|5:140|4:230|3:124|2:31|1:2| 527 2056 781 83 4 2 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 05 08:56:36 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 05 08:56:50 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 2 false false Mon May 07 08:35:58 -0700 2007 Mon May 07 08:37:48 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Jul 07 11:17:30 -0700 2007 Sat Jul 07 11:20:56 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Sat Jun 23 18:27:57 -0700 2007 Sat Jun 23 18:32:40 -0700 2007
Each story somehow related to my own histo...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Feb 17 11:45:02 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 17 11:57:30 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Wed Sep 12 17:12:44 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 12 17:26:49 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Apr 11 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 07 17:41:19 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 07 17:41:19 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Apr 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 23 08:26:35 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 11 06:39:57 -0700 2009
Generally, I am not a fan of short stories. I enjoy the plot and character development that longe...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Mar 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 22 06:39:18 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 29 17:48:20 -0700 2009
I'm always considering the adaptability (to stage or screen) of all the fiction I read (an annoying habit, I know) and there are stories here that are almost stage-ready. Two in particular struck is as ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Aug 09 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 29 22:05:18 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 09 04:41:22 -0700 2008
Nathan Englander's stories remind me of Schulz, Gogol, and Chabon with his unique, somewhat surreal and simple style concerned with Jewish customs and tradition.

I wasn't a fan of some of the stories especially the last one that reads like an autobiography, b...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 23 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 23 16:03:35 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 23 21:41:54 -0700 2008
In any case, it's a wonderful collection of stories. The craft, the maturity of the writing (he was 28 when the book was published) are qui...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 15 18:41:41 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 23 06:01:01 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jan 27 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 09 17:48:20 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 28 06:55:22 -0800 2009 For the Relief of Unbearable Urges ("Reb Kringle"; "The Wig" and "The Acrobats" were all wonderfully well done!) but others felt a little flat to me, as though they were striving too hard (the title story, for ex...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Aug 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 03 15:34:12 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 10:55:42 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 11 23:19:12 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 11 23:28:08 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Mon Feb 09 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jul 09 14:32:39 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 09 14:32:39 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Jul 12 10:42:53 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 23 07:42:17 -0700 2007
I have to confess that I like so much many Jewish-American novelists as Philip Roth, Saul Bellow, Isaac Singer and Mordecai Richler (though he's Cana...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Sep 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 26 07:41:45 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 26 07:46:50 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Apr 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 08 10:05:20 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 19 07:46:17 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon Apr 20 13:20:58 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 20 13:22:44 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=29788