David Cooper's Blog, page 3
November 1, 2018
Book review: Late Beauty: Poems by Tuvia Ruebner
“Readers who devoured In the Illuminated Dark will
welcome the additional poems in Late Beauty, and
for readers unacquainted with Ruebner’s poetry
Late Beauty provides a portal.” — From my review
of Late Beauty: Selected Poems of Tuvia Ruebner
translated from the Hebrew by Lisa Katz and
Shahar Bram in New York Journal of Books.
June 4, 2018
Book review: The Mandela Plot by Kenneth Bonert
“South African born Jewish-Canadian author Kenneth Bonert’s
sophomore effort The Mandela Plot is a sequel to his multiple
awards winning debut novel The Lion Seeker (also reviewed
on NYJB) that continues the Helger family saga begun in the
earlier volume in a rather dark combination coming of age
story and political thriller. A concluding epilogue in the final
fifth of the novel includes commentary on post-Apartheid
South Africa in general and the predicament of its Jewish
citizens in particular.” — From my review of The Mandela
Plot by Kenneth Bonert in New York Journal of Books
Book review: The Mandela Plot by Kenneth Bonert
Book review: The Mandela Plot by Kenneth Bonert
May 11, 2018
Book Review: Late Beauty: Poems by Tuvia Ruebner
March 21, 2018
Book review: The Diamond Setter by Moshe Sakal
“… well written, masterfully translated by Jessica Cohen, and rewards
rereading.” — From my review of The Diamond Setter by Moshe Sakal
in New York Journal of Books
Book review: The Diamond Setter by Moshe Sakal
March 7, 2018
Book review: Empty Set by Veronica Gerber Bicecci
“Veronica Gerber Bicecci’s debut novel, second book and her first translated into English, Empty Set (Conjunto vacío), has multiple dualities—the verbal and the visual, the analytic and the emotional, autobiography and fiction—that aspire to convey ineffable sums greater than their constituent parts.” — From my review of Empty Set by Veronica Gerber Bicecci in New York Journal of Books
February 7, 2018
Book Review: Empty Set by Veronica Gerber Bicecci
Book Review: Petty Business by Yirmi Pinkus
“Petty Business, the second of Yirmi Pinkus’ five novels and the first to be published in English, satirically portrays the life of a family of Tel Aviv store owners with both fondness and humor over one year—1989, a time in which neighborhood mom and pop stores were being put out of business by larger chain and department stores, just as the latter are now under pressure from Internet vendors.
“… The novel’s title in the original Hebrew edition is the Aramaic phrase Bi’zer Anpin, which means ‘on a small scale, in miniature,’ and this family and their enterprises are a microcosm of a lower-middle class retail subculture at the end of an era.
“Overseas Pinkus is better known as cartoonist, and his book cover illustration of bathers in the waterpark swimming pool provides a preview of his satirical take on that subculture whose narrative portrait is also poignant. Pinkus’ mastery of language is every bit equal to that of his visual medium, and translators Evan Fallenberg and Yardena Greenspan do a fine job of conveying his varied prose into English.” — from my review of Petty Business by Yirmi Pinkus in New York Journal of Books
