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The Iron Will of Shoeshine Cats
by
Hesh Kestin
The Iron Will of Shoeshine Cats (Publishers Weekly 10/26/09)
Hesh Kestin. Dzanc (Consortium, dist.), $16.95 paper (334p) ISBN 9780976717782
"From the author of the short fiction collection Based on a True Story comes a vibrant, hilarious addition to the genre of mob tragicomedy. Twenty-year-old Russell Newhouse, a quick-witted scholar and skirt-chaser, has New York’s organiz...more
Hesh Kestin. Dzanc (Consortium, dist.), $16.95 paper (334p) ISBN 9780976717782
"From the author of the short fiction collection Based on a True Story comes a vibrant, hilarious addition to the genre of mob tragicomedy. Twenty-year-old Russell Newhouse, a quick-witted scholar and skirt-chaser, has New York’s organiz...more
Paperback, 334 pages
Published
November 1st 2009
by Dzanc Books
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This was a random pick at the library and what a great surprise... The story, set in New York City in the fall of 1963, is about a 20 year old college kid named Russell Newhouse who through his father becomes involved in an old world Jewish society club for displaced Jews after the 2nd world war. At one such meeting a commotion arises as Shushan "Shoeshine" Cats, a big time gangster, walks in and asks to become a member. Once his membership is established, Mr. Cats then tells his audience (focus...more
The rise, during a couple of weeks in the 1963, of Russell Newhouse from Brooklyn College honor student to kingpen of a major crime organization.
Hestin fills his narrative with enough period detail to keep all the wild improbabilities and outrageous characters grounded in a very believable New York City. (Although some of it we may recognize because the cliches have been so embedded in our minds from movies and TV.) The momentum flags some in the second half, but from the time Shushan Cats, the...more
Hestin fills his narrative with enough period detail to keep all the wild improbabilities and outrageous characters grounded in a very believable New York City. (Although some of it we may recognize because the cliches have been so embedded in our minds from movies and TV.) The momentum flags some in the second half, but from the time Shushan Cats, the...more
I want to give this five stars just for the general milieu. There was something really lovable about this book, and while I'm not sure it ultimately lived up to the fabulous beginning I enjoyed it all the way through. The whole setting -- New York gangsters in 1963 -- was great, and I loved how Kestin set the noir genre on its ass in a really freewheeling, gum-cracking way. The fact that it was very literary appealed highly. Here you have a self-educated Brooklyn gangster who's extensively well-...more
The next book I read had better be spectacularly good because this one is a tough act to follow. How I came upon it I’m not sure since it wasn’t widely reviewed, was published by a small press (Dzanc) and was reputed to be “the best book you’ve never read.” I loved it & was sorry to see it end. Black humor, intelligent, filled with literary references, wonderfully-drawn characters, very Budd Schulbergish, and set in the 1960s.. I could vastly over-simplify by categorizing The Iron Will of Sh...more
I LOVED this book, and perhaps the most persuasive argument for the veracity of such a claim, is that I can't stand the premise of the novel. I have little tolerance for the well worn turf of gangster stories (and that includes the Godfather saga). I'm not a prig, but I'm sick to death of crime stories sullying the virtue of honor by romanticizing a bunch of brutes--be they Italian, Irish, Black, Chinese, or Jewish. But Kestin has subverted the iconic gangster masterfully with the character of S...more
I really wanted to hate this book when I picked it up but I kept getting pleasantly surprised with each new page. Kestin really got the pace and the rhythm of the language right. Yes it was maybe a little too stereotypic but if you grew up in an East Coast city you immediately felt at home with the conversations.
Two complaints: The sex scenes just weren't written as well as the rest of the book; they seemed a little raunchy just for the sake of being a little raunchy. And the ending was just a l...more
Two complaints: The sex scenes just weren't written as well as the rest of the book; they seemed a little raunchy just for the sake of being a little raunchy. And the ending was just a l...more
A valiant stab at an affectionate parody of the gangster yarn, concerning the relationship between a maverick student and the titular hero, both of whom are unfeasibly erudite and articulate. Ultimately, the book falls foul to a snail's-paced narrative, over-repetitiveness and portrayals of women and sex which read like laughably overt wish-fulfillment. There is some very good writing scattered through the book, however, particularly when the physical and cultural landscapes of New York are bein...more
Far too much of this novel reads like a story your grandfather told to make himself sound cooler than he actually was. The rest of it reads sort of like Forest Gump if Forest Gump had been a Jewish gangster--the narrator coincidentally stumbles across far too many people with connections to world changing events.
In the end, parts of it were funny, and it reads quickly, but the story seemed more concerned with making its characters look awesome then with, you know, telling an actual story that i...more
In the end, parts of it were funny, and it reads quickly, but the story seemed more concerned with making its characters look awesome then with, you know, telling an actual story that i...more
was a letdown. After a promising start in which a scholarly college student becomes the heir to a brutal underworld leader. It turns into a big love fest. The mob-leader is painted as a well read cosmopolitan man who does ugly deeds for noble reasons: a true man of the people a modern day jewish urban robin hood. Add to this the fact that the story is chockfull of details (movie times, current restaurants, political discussions meant to lend this story a you-are there realism to the late sixties...more
This was one of the most fun books I've read in a while. I loved the story and enjoyed Kestin's writing style. It wasn't the most intellectually stimulating books, but a great book and fun way to escape for a few hours. Highly recommended to anyone looking for a page-turning, interesting story.
I loved this. Recommended by friends and colleagues when I was in a funk of not finding the right book. So easy to read, a great story, loveable characters (even the ones likely to kill you at the drop of a baseball bat) and a real feel for early 60s New York. A real gem and a fresh tonic. I guess you could say I quite liked it.
quite a funny book about sensitive side of gangster world, I like the references about books, culture and historical events of those times mentioned in this book
Oct 03, 2011
Laurent Szklarz
added it
great read. with all the great ingredients: humor (lots of it), odd characters and especially an old good story when america was still america . for a really good time
Mar 05, 2013
Flash Beagle
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2013-indie-challenge-5-9,
thoroughly-obnoxious
The mobster with a heart of gold, philosophically astute, you name it. A cast of shills set up to nod in sync while the author shoehorn's his wondrous opinions.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
what a great book this is, indelible characters, a plot full of twists - great call JE, this one was a pleasure to read
An author too in love with his own narrator. A book too in love with itself.
almost framed as a fable. interesting, well flavored with the time period.
An interesting look at a Jewish gangster in New York in 1963.
Orphaned college kid becomes king pin Jewish gangster in two weeks. Set over the course of two weeks in 1963, this is a cracking read; spirited, funny, sexy, thrilling, with twists and turns. Really good. Highly recommended
the author's background in journalism and years of self-education on the streets of NYC come through in this colorful novel about the Jewish mafia. Very well done.
Does your heart go pitter-patter for "Bugsy Malone"? Or maybe "The Godfather"? Perhaps "The Maltese Falcon"? If so, "The Iron Will of Shoeshine Cats" by Hesh Kestin serves up 2 parts mob story, 1 part noir to make a gripping, ripping fun yarn about the Jewish mob in 1960s NYC. Definitely recommended.
I was flying high with this book, appreciating the cleverness, his take on Brooklyn--which I recognized quite well--but to my mind, after a while it went off the tracks, what with one of the main characters too unbelievable and becoming more so as I read on. It's a shame. It could've been much better.
I think it is actually more of a 5 than a 4. I loved the book and its setting and the unusual plot and set of characters. I actually got even more interested as I was reading along, and the developing plot held my attention all the way to the end. Terrific read, and highly recommended!
awesome
Entertaining and unique treatment of a coming of age story against the backdrop of Jewish gangsters in the New York during the 1960's. A little uneven towards the end, but overall very satisfying. I suppose it would be fair to call it a literary page turned.
Well it was ok. Not really my kind of book. Got it on a recommendation by Russell Crowe. The Olympics got in the way and that's why it took so long for me to read it. Oh and reading other books too.
A really different and fascinating setting. Kestin does a good job of maintaining tone and voice throughout the book. A slow start, and a somewhat too rushed finish, but well worth your time.
Surprisingly good. A little weak in the middle, but sort of out of nowhere fun.
May 16, 2013
Dick Barbuto
marked it as to-read
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Mar 05, 2013 02:06pm