The Golem of Brooklyn
Books | Fiction / Humorous / General
Adam Mansbach
The dazzlingly imaginative, ferociously funny story of an art teacher, a bodega clerk, and a five-thousand-year-old clay crisis monster, from the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Go the F**k to Sleep.“A devastating romp through history, a bonkers road trip through America, this novel could not be any funnier—or any more important.”—W. Kamau BellIn Ashkenazi Jewish folklore, a golem is a humanoid being created out of mud or clay and animated through secret prayers. Its sole purpose is to defend the Jewish people against the immediate threat of violence. It is always a rabbi who makes a golem, and always in a time of crisis.But Len Bronstein is no rabbi—he’s a Brooklyn art teacher who steals a large quantity of clay from his school, gets extremely stoned, and manages to bring his creation to life despite knowing little about Judaism and even less about golems. Unable to communicate with his nine-foot-six, four hundred-pound, Yiddish-speaking guest, Len enlists a bodega clerk and ex-Hasid named Miri Apfelbaum to translate.Eventually, The Golem learns English by binge-watching Curb Your Enthusiasm after ingesting a massive amount of LSD and reveals that he is a creature with an ancestral memory; he recalls every previous iteration of himself, making The Golem a repository of Jewish history and trauma. He demands to know what crisis has prompted his re-creation and whom must he destroy. When Miri shows him a video of white nationalists marching and chanting “Jews will not replace us,” the answer becomes clear.The Golem of Brooklyn is an epic romp through Jewish history and the American present that wrestles with the deepest questions of our humanity—the conflicts between faith and skepticism, tribalism and interdependence, and vengeance and healing.
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Author
Adam Mansbach
Pages
272
Publisher
Random House Publishing Group
Published Date
2023-09-26
ISBN
059372982X 9780593729823
Community ReviewsSee all
"A disillusioned art teacher, Len, creates a golem - or rather, THE Golem. The Golem is built for a purpose, and Len and his new friend Miri must figure out how The Golem can fulfill his purpose... without killing anyone. (Spoiler alert - he can't)
Oh my goodness, what a fantastic read. I don't see a lot of (good) books about Jewish culture and folklore, and this was super refreshing. It is also a very good satire and commentary on the social issues going on for the last however many years. As a Jew, I can relate to a lot of this book.
But being Jewish is not even half of why I like this book so much. Not only do we get the story about Len and Miri, but we get histories about The Golem interspersed throughout the book - from biblical sources, from folkloric sources, and from history itself. And Mansbach connects each of these histories to the issues in this book.
This is also a book about decisions, about what is right, what is wrong, and what cannot be decided at all. You can definitely tell what is meant to be totally wrong on the moral scale. But, when it comes to The Golem protecting the Jews, there is no right answer. I love this, I love how Mansbach portrays this idea, as it is so relevant to the here and now, where so much is morally grey, even if people don't think so.
Then there are the characters. I love them all, even the ones who are meant to suck. They are written with such depth, and they feel like I could meet them anywhere. And I definitely have. But imagine them creating and trying to control a Golem. Or are they? The Golem is a metaphor, right?
And lastly, this book is funny as hell. I will give one spoiler for this - The Golem's first words to Len (in Yiddish, but it is translated) are: where is my dick?
This is such an important read, and a hilarous read. I implore you all to give it a try."
Abby Siegel
"3.5 stars.<br/><br/>Fun read!"
D B
Derek Boemler