The Here and Now

by Robert Cohen, Julie Metz (Artist), Erich Hobbing (Designed by)

The Here and Now is the story of a chance encounter and the tumult that ensues when opposites (or apparent ones) turn into strange attractors. Samuel Karnish, a no-longer-quite-so-young editor at a Manhattan newsmagazine, has watched his career run aground, his marriage disintegrate, and his worldview shrink almost to the vanishing point. On the flight to his best friend Warren Pinsky's third wedding, he finds himself thrust into an awkward friendship with a young Hasidic couple from Brooklyn, a friendship that leads him on a strange and provocative odyssey and sends him reeling in the direction of what may be his truest self. As we are drawn in to the lives of this unlikely threesome, we see the moral confusions and crossed purposes that threaten believers and nonbelievers alike with estrangement from others and themselves.

Genres: Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 1996

About the author

Robert Cohen, Professor of English and American Literatures, is a novelist who teaches both literature and creative writing courses. His books include Amateur Barbarians, Inspired Sleep, The Here and Now, The Organ Builder, and a collection of short stories, The Varieties of Romantic Experience. Prior to teaching at Middlebury he taught at Harvard, Rice, the University of Houston, and the Iowa Writers Workshop. He earned a B.A. from University of California Berkeley and an MFA from Columbia. His stories and essays have appeared in Harpers, Paris Review, GQ, The Believer, and many other magazines, and his awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting Writers Award, a Lila Wallace-Readers Digest Writers Award, a Ribalow Prize, and a Pushcart Prize.

Source: Middlebury College.

Reviews

[Louise Bodack]

thought provoking. Memorable characters.

a quote: " There are three things to be learned from children.They're often happy for no particular reason, they're never idle,and when they want something they demand it vigorously." So true.

[Laura Boudreau · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book started out engaging, but it didn't really go as far as I would have liked. The main character never seemed to really grow emotionally or spiritually, which purportedly was the purpose of the story, and the ending was vague. Disappointing.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a wonderful, painful novel...I wish Cohen got a louder reception.
This is one of the books I love to loan out to friends looking for a good read.

[Sacha Bensimon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Certains passages sont agréables à lire. Mais quelle est la finalité du livre? Nous rendre plus ou moins religieux ? Beaucoup de dialogues pas toujours très utiles à la compréhension de l’histoire

[Judi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Samuel Karnish's life is a mess and reeling out of control. By chance he meets an Hasidic couple, the Brenner's, while flying to Houston for his best friend's third wedding. Sam who is a "half Jew" ("What is this mathematics?" asks Brenner) is confronted with his own belief system as this unlikely encounter turns into a friendship, of sorts. OK, he is attracted to Aaron Brenner's very shy, but enigmatic wife. But he really does like Aaron for his intelligence and certainty. So there lies some of the complication.

All in all we follow Samuel through some interesting events as his job, girlfriend, and well everything, bottoms out. There's much humor here and lots of philosophy about the Hebrew faith or any faith for that matter.

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite being reviewed in the New York Times (and elsewhere too, I imagine) this book seems to have fallen between the cracks. There are no reviews of it here or on Librarything, and I only discovered it by chance.

I liked it a lot. Cohen's writing style grew on me as the book progressed, and the story was good enough to keep me reading even if the writing had not been as good as it was. Best of all, the Hasidic characters in the book are not merely 'spiritual counterweights' to the secular protagonist, like I feared they would be.

This is a fun and easy read, and I recommend it highly. And for those who care about such things: the hardcover edition is a nice looking book!

[Jessica gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

picked it up in a used book store..so far, so good...it was really great. Forced me to think about my life, my prejudices, and routines. Reminds me of the Niki Manage/ Kanye song "all of the lights"..."living doesn't mean your alive"

[Zechy · Rating 2 out of 5]

ends suddenly and doesn't wrap anything up.

[caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful characters. A rich and exuberant book.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was about to "Here and Now" declare Mr. Cohen as amongst my top ten favorite living authors,
but, upon recount, he came up eleventh! It'll happen... in the There and Then.

[Charlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Sharon Fletcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of interesting. The main characters’ perspective and descriptions of Jewish traditions were presented with an “outsider’s” curiosity, skepticism and envy.
Uniquely well-written.

[Ilana Diamant · Rating 3 out of 5]

a laugh-out-loud story and commentary on a sad yet common outlook on life