Golems of Gotham

Many years have passed since Oliver Levin — a bestselling mystery writer and a lifetime sufferer from blocked emotions — has given any thought to his parents, Holocaust survivors who committed suicide. But now, after years of uninterrupted literary output, Oliver Levin finds himself blocked as a writer, too. Oliver's fourteen-year-old daughter, Ariel, sets out to free her father from his demons by summoning the ghosts of his parents, but, along the way, the ghosts of Primo Levi, Jerzy Kosinski, and Paul Celan, among others, also materialize in this novel of moral philosophy and unforgettable enchantment.

Part ghost story, part haunting fable inspired by Jewish mysticism and folklore, The Golems of Gotham tells the story of Oliver Levin, a bestselling gothic mystery writer and his teenage daughter, Ariel, who suddenly emerges as a precocious klezmer violinist and amateur kabbalist. Ariel tries to bring her father out of writer's block by summoning the spirit of his dead parents, both Holocaust survivors and suicide victims. On the surface it is a story about a daughter's longing to rescue her father. But on another level, The Golems of Gotham is a wildly imaginative exploration of how the Holocaust became part of our shared consciousness, and what will happen once it retreats from the center of our collective memory.

By invoking the ancient legend of the Golem, the novel pays tribute to the way imagination is used in the spirit of repair. It also contemplates the price that artists pay when they look too deeply into the heart of atrocity, illuminating how the mind conjures both its own prison, and liberation.

About the Author:
Thane Rosenbaum is the author of the critically-acclaimed novel Second Hand Smoke and a novel in stories, Elijah Visible. He frequently writes for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Los Angeles Times. He lives in New York City.

Publishers Weekly

A half-dozen ghosts of famous literary figures return to New York to help unblock a Jewish writer in Rosenbaum's intriguing but undisciplined second novel (after Second Hand Smoke), which begins with the suicide of a pair of elderly Holocaust survivors, Lothar and Rose Levin. Their deaths prove devastating to their son, Oliver, a successful author who was already struggling with a serious case of writer's block when his wife, Samantha, left him. Oliver's 14-year-old daughter, Ariel, responds to her father's struggles by conjuring up an illustrious group of literary golems who committed suicide in the wake of the Holocaust a group that includes the likes of Primo Levi and Jerzy Kosinski, as well as Oliver's deceased parents. They quickly provide Oliver with the inspiration to write a serious Holocaust novel as they commit various acts of mayhem around the city, and their rehabilitation project coincides with the rise of Ariel, a prodigal klezmer violinist whose talent lands her a gig at a major New York venue. Rosenbaum's far-fetched modern fairy tale is entertaining, despite some sappy moments, but his focus wanders frequently, particularly when he goes off on tangents about the golems as they work their strange magic. Moreover, he never comes close to capturing the essence of the writers, and by the end of the book they are little more than literary clowns. The author's passion for his subject permeates these pages, but it will be tough for this book to earn an audience beyond readers who share Rosenbaum's devotion to keeping the lessons of the Holocaust alive. Agent, Ellen Levin. (Feb. 10) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Thane Rosenbaum teaches courses in human rights, legal humanities, and law and literature at Fordham Law School. He is also an award-winning novelist (The Golems of Gotham, Second Hand Smoke, and Elijah Visible). His essays appear frequently in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and other national publications. He lives in New York City with his daughter, Basia Tess.