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A Call from Jersey
"[Kluge] sketches a difficult but ultimately loving father/son relationship with a rare sincerity and welcome humor. Heartfelt, funny and poignant." --Kirkus ReviewsSet in the1980s, A Call from Jersey follows the life of Hans Greifinger, a German-American who immigrated to the United States in 1928 and built a life for himself and his son, George, who has adopted the surname Griffin for his nationally-syndicated lackluster travel column."A luminous and compelling novel about the way surprises from the past can reshape our future. An invitation to a high school reunion brings a restless travel writer back to New Jersey to confront a father he abandoned, friends he forgot, and a history he never knew. Kluge knows his characters from the inside and his comic, loving portrayals stand with the best of Russo and Irving. Jersey has never seemed more exotic. Kluge entertains while provoking all the big questions about the meaning of origins and the search for home." --Askold Melnyczuk, author of What Is Told"I have admired every novel by P.F. Kluge, but I must say that A Call from Jersey is the most stunning, provocative and beautifully written of all . . . This novel is the rare iconic immigrant story--inimitable, mesmerizing, tough-minded, generous, and haunting." --Howard Norman, author of The Bird Artist"This new novel adds a salient chapter to the history of the American dream." --Daniel Mark Epstein, author of Sister Aimee"Absorbing . . . as much about the twentieth-century American experience as it is about brothers, fathers, and sons." --Publishers Weekly
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 2, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 12, 2014
Rating: 2.5* of five
The Publisher Says: With A Call From New Jersey Kluge has outdone himself with a long view of the American experience and the steady mutation of the American dream. Set in the1980's it follows the life of Hans Greifinger, a German-American who immigrated to the United States in 1928 and built a life for himself and his son, George, who has adopted the surname Griffin for his nationally-syndicated lackluster travel column.
My Review: George Greifinger, successful travel-industry flack aka columnist, files a story on Thailand's riverine delights and goes home to New Jersey, there to hang out with his aging father, his aging schoolmates, and his crumbling self-image in 80s North Jersey suburban hellhole Berkeley Heights. He alternates narrative duties with his father Hans, immigrant German success story, who is doing his own settling of accounts with the past by remembering the sparkling, witty, fun-loving gambler younger brother Heinz, who left America to fight for the German cause in WWII.
Both men confront their respective fears of life and the future, both men find women, both men end up wiser and more likely to succeed...if only life gave second chances, which to the best of my knowledge it does not.
This novel was written by the man who created the inimitable Eddie and the Cruisers, a fun book that made me stop in my tracks to absorb when I read it in the 80s. This novel packs not one whit of that power. Some lovely lines, it's true, and a few tasty metaphors, but more often than not, I found nothing and no one to care about here. I just can't get it up for Jersey in the 80s.
Far the superior narrative track is the father Hans's...his story of being an immigrant German in the 20s and 30s was elegiac and quite moving; it made me wish this yutz of a son of his would belt up and go away, leave me to talk to the grown-ups okay sonny, go 'way kid ya bother me. Whiner-boy is all midlifey over his wasted talent...even his old high-school English teacher reproaches him for the second-rate pabulum he's churning out, quite profitably let it be said, because he's sold out his early promise (ye gods and little fishes, could **anything** be less interesting than a middle-aged careerist having angst? well, apart from teenaged fang-bangers having angst, that is) and the girl that got away is still there and there's the big fat best friend conflict and
Oh hell, I can't stand it, this is as boring as reading the damn thing was. If I need to spell it out for you, I do not recommend this title. At all. If offered to you free, accept only if there are shelves going empty in your bookcase.
There. I've kept my ER commitment and can now forget I ever saw this soporific twaddle-box.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
The Publisher Says: With A Call From New Jersey Kluge has outdone himself with a long view of the American experience and the steady mutation of the American dream. Set in the1980's it follows the life of Hans Greifinger, a German-American who immigrated to the United States in 1928 and built a life for himself and his son, George, who has adopted the surname Griffin for his nationally-syndicated lackluster travel column.
My Review: George Greifinger, successful travel-industry flack aka columnist, files a story on Thailand's riverine delights and goes home to New Jersey, there to hang out with his aging father, his aging schoolmates, and his crumbling self-image in 80s North Jersey suburban hellhole Berkeley Heights. He alternates narrative duties with his father Hans, immigrant German success story, who is doing his own settling of accounts with the past by remembering the sparkling, witty, fun-loving gambler younger brother Heinz, who left America to fight for the German cause in WWII.
Both men confront their respective fears of life and the future, both men find women, both men end up wiser and more likely to succeed...if only life gave second chances, which to the best of my knowledge it does not.
This novel was written by the man who created the inimitable Eddie and the Cruisers, a fun book that made me stop in my tracks to absorb when I read it in the 80s. This novel packs not one whit of that power. Some lovely lines, it's true, and a few tasty metaphors, but more often than not, I found nothing and no one to care about here. I just can't get it up for Jersey in the 80s.
Far the superior narrative track is the father Hans's...his story of being an immigrant German in the 20s and 30s was elegiac and quite moving; it made me wish this yutz of a son of his would belt up and go away, leave me to talk to the grown-ups okay sonny, go 'way kid ya bother me. Whiner-boy is all midlifey over his wasted talent...even his old high-school English teacher reproaches him for the second-rate pabulum he's churning out, quite profitably let it be said, because he's sold out his early promise (ye gods and little fishes, could **anything** be less interesting than a middle-aged careerist having angst? well, apart from teenaged fang-bangers having angst, that is) and the girl that got away is still there and there's the big fat best friend conflict and
Oh hell, I can't stand it, this is as boring as reading the damn thing was. If I need to spell it out for you, I do not recommend this title. At all. If offered to you free, accept only if there are shelves going empty in your bookcase.
There. I've kept my ER commitment and can now forget I ever saw this soporific twaddle-box.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
October 6, 2010
The entire time I was reading this book, I felt like I was missing something, like it was the sequel to a book I hadn't read. Relationships were written as though there was a lot of tension between characters, but nothing was developed enough (either in the backstory or the present story) for me to really care about where the tension came from, or whether it got resolved. Most of the characters seemed to just drift through the story, occasionally colliding with each other in encounters that were evidently supposed to be very weighty, but really just seemed like random plot devices. I think Kluge was aiming for high drama, but only managed to give us melodrama.
December 24, 2024
The entire time I was reading this book, I felt like I was missing something, like it was the sequel to a book I hadn't read. Relationships were written as though there was a lot of tension between characters, but nothing was developed enough (either in the backstory or the present story) for me to really care about where the tension came from, or whether it got resolved. Most of the characters seemed to just drift through the story, occasionally colliding with each other in encounters that were evidently supposed to be very weighty, but really just seemed like random plot devices. I think Kluge was aiming for high drama, but only managed to give us melodrama.
December 5, 2021
Nostalgia disguised as travelogue. Or vis versa....
June 4, 2013
The Goodreads consensus seems to be that "A Call From Jersey" isn't up to P.F. Kluge's usual standards. I would concur, though that doesn't mean it isn't an enjoyable journey.
"A Call From Jersey" touches on the German immigrant experience, father/son relationships, brother/brother relationships, notions of travel and home. The story is alternately told by a reminiscing (and, present-day, reconnecting) Hans Greifinger and his son, George Griffin, a globe-trotting travel writer dissatisfied with his work and life direction, who comes home to New Jersey to visit his father and for, eventually, his 20-year high school reunion in the 1980s.
The novel opens with Hans reflecting on his immigration to America in the 1930s, following his brother, Heinz, a pal to German boxer Max Schmeling. For a time, it seems as if we'll be totally immersed in the 1930s and the boxing world and New Jersey of the time. That doesn't last, and soon we're in George's 1980s world. The class reunion conjures thoughts of loves gone by or never happened, and as George interacts with his father and his father considers selling the childhood home and returning to Germany to live, George re-evaluates New Jersey and his place in the world.
The tale also returns to Hans and his attempts to reconnect with Heinz, with whom he had lost touch when Heinz returned to Germany just in time for World War II.
Before I started reading, I got the impression that perhaps this was a — to note the movies for a moment — "Avalon" sort of immigrant-in-America tale. It isn't quite like that. And the class reunion angle made me wonder if a "Beautiful Girls" sort of story would unfold. Again, not really. And while I'm discussing first impressions, what's up with the trade paperback cover? Yellow-green tinted, old-looking photo of leaning youngsters. Must be a tale of 1930s kids, eh? Not at all. It's a pretty cover, but what on earth do those kids have to do with the story? Nothing whatsoever. While I'm discussing the edition itself, there are quite a number of typos here; it's unfortunate.
With the father angle and son angle and the brother/brother angle and old classmates and teachers rearing their heads for the reunion, there are several story threads here, and yet, in the end, not quite enough meat to any of them.
That said, it's still a good novel, and I'm glad I read it. It didn't grab me nearly as much as, say, Kluge's "Biggest Elvis" or "Gone Tomorrow" did, but the author wraps up this story nicely and movingly. As a character writes, "We're all looking around and measuring how far we've come." It's intriguing to watch as these people measure and assess, but to borrow a Max Schmeling/boxing phrase, don't knock yourself out scrambling to read this one.
"A Call From Jersey" touches on the German immigrant experience, father/son relationships, brother/brother relationships, notions of travel and home. The story is alternately told by a reminiscing (and, present-day, reconnecting) Hans Greifinger and his son, George Griffin, a globe-trotting travel writer dissatisfied with his work and life direction, who comes home to New Jersey to visit his father and for, eventually, his 20-year high school reunion in the 1980s.
The novel opens with Hans reflecting on his immigration to America in the 1930s, following his brother, Heinz, a pal to German boxer Max Schmeling. For a time, it seems as if we'll be totally immersed in the 1930s and the boxing world and New Jersey of the time. That doesn't last, and soon we're in George's 1980s world. The class reunion conjures thoughts of loves gone by or never happened, and as George interacts with his father and his father considers selling the childhood home and returning to Germany to live, George re-evaluates New Jersey and his place in the world.
The tale also returns to Hans and his attempts to reconnect with Heinz, with whom he had lost touch when Heinz returned to Germany just in time for World War II.
Before I started reading, I got the impression that perhaps this was a — to note the movies for a moment — "Avalon" sort of immigrant-in-America tale. It isn't quite like that. And the class reunion angle made me wonder if a "Beautiful Girls" sort of story would unfold. Again, not really. And while I'm discussing first impressions, what's up with the trade paperback cover? Yellow-green tinted, old-looking photo of leaning youngsters. Must be a tale of 1930s kids, eh? Not at all. It's a pretty cover, but what on earth do those kids have to do with the story? Nothing whatsoever. While I'm discussing the edition itself, there are quite a number of typos here; it's unfortunate.
With the father angle and son angle and the brother/brother angle and old classmates and teachers rearing their heads for the reunion, there are several story threads here, and yet, in the end, not quite enough meat to any of them.
That said, it's still a good novel, and I'm glad I read it. It didn't grab me nearly as much as, say, Kluge's "Biggest Elvis" or "Gone Tomorrow" did, but the author wraps up this story nicely and movingly. As a character writes, "We're all looking around and measuring how far we've come." It's intriguing to watch as these people measure and assess, but to borrow a Max Schmeling/boxing phrase, don't knock yourself out scrambling to read this one.
October 13, 2010
A wonderfully told story of fathers, sons, and new beginnings, Kluge gives us plenty of fodder as we revel in the view points and stories of two narrators: German immigrant Hans Greifinger, and his very American, travel writing son George Griffin. Both men struggle with their tenuous relationship as they try to reconnect with one another.
The story begins through Hans eyes, as he steps off the boat from Germany into a new world and a new life. Like the old man lost in his memories, we forget ourselves as we relive the stories of the people he met, the places he traveled, the woman he loved, and the home and family he built. Through Hans, we meet his brother, Heinz, a risk taker who risks a bit too much for Hans' comfort and ends up back in the German army as WWII begins. As happens, Hans looses touch with his brother and vows all these years later to find out what became of him. And through all the memories, we experience the glory days of New York and New Jersey in the 1930s and 40s. We get to discover, along with his son, who Hans is and why.
Through George, we recognize our own struggles to understand what success means, and what it is to feel whole and "at home."
Like so many other of Kluge's stories, A Call From Jersey magnifies the importance of family, relationships, and a sense of place. It's a heart warming read that pulls you right into the story then releases you to ponder your own place in the world.
The story begins through Hans eyes, as he steps off the boat from Germany into a new world and a new life. Like the old man lost in his memories, we forget ourselves as we relive the stories of the people he met, the places he traveled, the woman he loved, and the home and family he built. Through Hans, we meet his brother, Heinz, a risk taker who risks a bit too much for Hans' comfort and ends up back in the German army as WWII begins. As happens, Hans looses touch with his brother and vows all these years later to find out what became of him. And through all the memories, we experience the glory days of New York and New Jersey in the 1930s and 40s. We get to discover, along with his son, who Hans is and why.
Through George, we recognize our own struggles to understand what success means, and what it is to feel whole and "at home."
Like so many other of Kluge's stories, A Call From Jersey magnifies the importance of family, relationships, and a sense of place. It's a heart warming read that pulls you right into the story then releases you to ponder your own place in the world.
February 13, 2017
German immigrant family 1920s - current. 2 generations
October 8, 2010
Max Kluge has succeeded in keeping me interested in this story that begins with boxing of all things. While the subject was out of my normal interest, I managed to get thru the beginning 2 chapters thinking I was going to have to tough it out...Well I ended up enjoying the story. He is a powerful writer, he gets the dialogue and descriptions just right.
He writes about the German-American immigrant experience during the war, father-son relations, & growing up, moving on, and coming home.
It's one of those stories that I want to share...so now who can I give this to? I can think of quite afew who I think would enjoy it.
He writes about the German-American immigrant experience during the war, father-son relations, & growing up, moving on, and coming home.
It's one of those stories that I want to share...so now who can I give this to? I can think of quite afew who I think would enjoy it.
August 3, 2011
Disappointing. I wanted to read another book by Kluge after finishing _Gone Tomorrow_ (which I loved). This one proved a poor choice: uninspired (and uninspiring) characters and a hackneyed moral. Worse still, the editor was apparently asleep on the job. In addition to numerous typos, two brief "chapters" changed narrators in mid-stream, as if neither the author nor editor could keep track of whose point of view was being presented.
June 26, 2011
Another really good read from Kluge; I really appreciate his style and sense of how place affects a person. His novel weaves together different stories skillfully (at times, I wasn't sure who was who, but I got it straight), and his final scene at the class reunion is pretty fantastic. Some very powerful and memorable lines. I'm going to keep reading everything I can by him.
October 14, 2011
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It is, by no means, a unique or novel kind of tale, but Kluge tells the story and develops the characters wonderfully. A longing for home, a longing for place, and a son's relationship with his father; this book is about all of these, but it is also simply about choices. Now, I am going to see if I can find any other books by this author.
October 26, 2011
George is a travel writer based in NYC who believes he's shaken his NJ roots, and pretty much ended (having endured) a relationship with his German-born father, Hans. He returns to Jersey for his 20th high school reunions, realizes how much he's missed having a home, and settles down in his dad's house to see if home is all it's rumored to be.
December 5, 2010
Charming literary fiction that is a multi generational family saga. Captures 1980’s New Jersey geography and settings on a level with Richard Ford, and equals this writer’s character development.
April 13, 2012
It was kind of a slow read and it took me a while to get into it. I really like the contrast of old world versus new, then getting to watch them meet in the middle.
June 27, 2012
To call this "feel good" or "nice" would undercut its seriousness but its hard to read this without breaking into a smile at what Kluge has done.
May 16, 2014
Kluge is gr8 at characterization, but a little iffy in terms of actual plot you know
September 23, 2016
This book is the story of my family. My grandfather. Where I grew up. I couldn't believe it.
November 10, 2016
I liked it. I wish I could give it 3 1/2 stars but since I couldn't I gave it for it's cute and I expected it to be a different ending , and that I liked
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews