Description
How does a young Israeli transform into a mensch when barely in his teens and confronted with an array of neurotic friends and relations in an unstable world constantly in conflict? Add to these interpersonal challenges, the boy early on recognizes his innate gay sexual bent, and our hero, Adam Weizmann, helplessly tries to face the challenges of his existence that are exposed during his epic bar-mitzvah. Notable in this satire are the strong-minded females, haunted by their past but whose love fairly smothers the son and grandson of the women. His girlfriends are independent and radical to a fault, and then the poor, weak males modeled by his father and the other men who seem lost to the world, floating in their misery. There seems to be no anchor to tether so many lost male souls in this novel. For those unfamiliar with the geography and history of the Middle East during this time period, the references made to villages and towns are bewildering. The emphasis on gay relationships will appeal to a certain audience, but for the most part, the reader grows weary with the heavy angst of the hero.