His Master's Voice

Library Journal

In this skillful evocation of life during the 1940s in a Jewish community in Baltimore, Cantor Sigmund Safer prepares his choir for the High Holy Days, copes with a rebellious teenage daughter, and visits his dying friend in the hospital. The Cantor is not a cardboard figure but a real person who struggles with his lack of faith, has nightmares about his early life in Poland, and takes to his bed periodically to escape from his burdens. The other members of the congregation are also portrayed realistically and humorously, including a faction of congregants who want to break away and form their own temple. Kotlowitz effectively juxtaposes daily problems with the larger concerns of the Holocaust and the fate of European Jewry. Highly recommended.-- Stephanie Furtsch, New Ro chelle P.L., N.Y.