Kalooki Nights
A Novel
Howard Jacobson
- Max
- Glickman,
- a
- Jewish
- cartoonist
- whose
- seminal
- work
- is
- a
- comic
- history
- titled
- Five
- Thousand
- Years
- of
- Bitterness,
- recalls
- his
- childhood
- in
- a
- British
- suburb
- in
- the
- 1950s.
- Growing
- up,
- Max
- is
- surrounded
- by
- Jews,
- each
- with
- an
- entirely
- different
- and
- outspoken
- view
- on
- what
- it
- means
- to
- be
- Jewish.
- His
- mother,
- incessantly
- preoccupied
- with
- a
- card
- game
- called
- Kalooki,
- only
- begrudgingly
- puts
- the
- deck
- away
- on
- the
- High
- Holy
- Days.
- Max's
- father,
- a
- failed
- boxer
- prone
- to
- spontaneous
- nosebleeds,
- is
- a
- self-proclaimed
- atheist
- and
- communist,
- unable
- to
- accept
- the
- God
- who
- has
- betrayed
- him
- so
- unequivocally
- in
- recent
- years.But
- it
- is
- through
- his
- friend
- and
- neighbor
- Manny
- Washinsky
- that
- Max
- begins
- to
- understand
- the
- indelible
- effects
- of
- the
- Holocaust
- and
- to
- explore
- the
- intrinsic
- and
- paradoxical
- questions
- of
- a
- postwar
- Jewish
- identity.
- Manny,
- obsessed
- with
- the
- Holocaust
- and
- haunted
- by
- the
- allure
- of
- its
- legacy,
- commits
- a
- crime
- of
- nightmare
- proportion
- against
- his
- family
- and
- his
- faith.
- Years
- later,
- after
- his
- friend's
- release
- from
- prison,
- Max
- is
- inexorably
- drawn
- to
- uncover
- the
- motive
- behind
- the
- catastrophic
- act
- --
- the
- discovery
- of
- which
- leads
- to
- a
- startling
- revelation
- and
- a
- profound
- truth
- about
- religion
- and
- faith
- that
- exists
- where
- the
- sacred
- meets
- the
- profane.Spanning
- the
- decades
- between
- World
- War
- II
- and
- the
- present
- day,
- acclaimed
- author
- Howard
- Jacobson
- seamlessly
- weaves
- together
- a
- breath-takingly
- complex
- narrative
- of
- love,
- tragedy,
- redemption,
- and
- above
- all,
- remarkable
- humor.
- Deeply
- empathetic
- and
- audaciously
- funny,
- Kalooki
- Nights
- is
- a
- luminous
- story
- torn
- violently
- between
- the
- hope
- of
- restoring
- and
- rebuilding
- Jewish
- life,
- and
- the
- painful
- burden
- of
- memory
- and loss.
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