The Outside World

The New Yorker

Mirvis’s first novel, “The Ladies Auxiliary,” followed a single mother with flower-child leanings who entered the Orthodox Jewish community in Memphis, where the author herself grew up. Memphis figures here, too, as the place where Tzippy Goldman and Bryan Miller move when they get married. Tzippy is fleeing an ultra-traditional neighborhood and a mother obsessed with the marriageability of her daughters; Bryan, conversely, has no patience with his comparatively secular family. Each is attracted to the other’s background. Mirvis lacks the depth that Allegra Goodman brings to this territory, but her chatty style and her eye for cultural contradictions are always engaging.

The Washington Post

The Outside World, in ways reminiscent but never imitative of Goodman's masterly Kaaterskill Falls, plunges deeply into both the daily duties and private soul-searching of its devout characters. Beneath the women's wigs and the men's black fedoras, Mirvis finds reservoirs of belief, doubt, ambition, folly, lust and the rest of the human equation. — Samuel G. Freedman

Publishers Weekly

With a sharp and sympathetic eye for the oft neglected and misunderstood worlds of ultra-Orthodox and Modern Orthodox Judaism, Mirvis (The Ladies Auxiliary) crafts a compelling narrative that delves into the lives of two families, each struggling with its own insecurities and difficulties. In this second novel, 22-year-old Orthodox Tzippy, born and bred in Jewish Brooklyn and insulated from secular society but secretly curious and eager to experience it, is barraged with meddlesome questions and with a slew of seemingly endless carbon-copy dates intended to facilitate her marriage to a reputable yeshiva boy before she turns into a spinster. Meanwhile, not too far away, Naomi and Joel, Modern Orthodox Jews, are straining to knock some sense into their suddenly ultra-religious son, Bryan (now calling himself by his Hebrew name Baruch), who has morphed from a head-banging, jeans-wearing, girl-chasing jock into a soul-searching, Talmud-studying, black-hat Jew interested only in immersing himself in God's laws and the Torah. When these two formerly separate worlds collide, parents, siblings and spouses must reflect on what their faith means to them and what to do when their beliefs unexpectedly diverge from those of loved ones. At times giddily humorous, at times stirring and sorrowful, Mirvis's insightful novel is packed with convincing detail, from descriptions of yarmulkes (fancifully embroidered or stolid black velvet) to the varieties of wigs worn by married ultra-Orthodox women. The characters' frequent use of distinctively Jewish terms and ideas gives the novel a foreign air, but the universal themes of growing up and choosing a fitting life to lead will resonate with readers of all faiths. Agent, Nicole Aragi. 7-city author tour. (Apr.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

KLIATT

This novel is a invitation to the center of the modern American Orthodox Jewish community as seen through the eyes of two Brooklyn families. In one family, the 22-year-old daughter is getting beyond marriageable age and after 42 matchmaking dates, her mother's dreams of a big wedding are fading. Meanwhile, a young man returns from a year of study in Israel; he is ready to submerge himself in study and move away from the temptations of American life. When they both go to Israel to study, and perhaps escape their families, they fall in love. Their families must adjust to their children's new lives, survive a traditional wedding and find their own way within their traditional beliefs and their modern lives. The plot and characters of this novel will be of interest to young people and their families of all religions who are struggling to maintain their identities and personal freedom within their religious beliefs. Mirvis writes with humor and understanding and shows empathy toward the children and parents who become "too" religious as well as those who rebel against the strict orthodox beliefs. The lessons of this book apply to believers in any religion, but the flavor of this story is delightfully kosher. KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2004, Random House, Vintage, 285p., Ages 15 to adult.
—Nola Theiss

Library Journal

Fundamentalists from many religions struggle with whether to accommodate the modern world or live in conflict with it. The way this struggle affects two Orthodox Jewish families is examined with both humor and poignancy in Mirvis's second novel (after The Ladies Auxiliary). The two families are brought together-and torn apart-by the marriage of their children, who bridge the traditional and the modern. After meeting and falling in love in Israel, Tzippy (Tzipporah) and Brian (Baruch)-whose American and Jewish names are markers for their cultural conflict-return to New Jersey and marry. As both newlyweds are very young, they have had few years to plan for their futures; until now, Brian has thought only of Torah study and Tzippy only of marriage. But all of that changes as the outside world encroaches and the couple discovers that building a future together demands maturity and change. A touching rendering for those who want to explore their own or another culture more deeply, this is recommended for most collections.-Judith Kicinski, Sarah Lawrence Coll. Lib., Bronxville, NY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Adult/High School-Tzippy Goldman, 22, has sat through too many first dates in Brooklyn hotel lobbies. Her mother has been planning her wedding since she was little, and still she's not married. Hungry for life experience, she wants to go to Israel. At the same time, Bryan Miller is searching for more meaning than his Orthodox Jewish lifestyle and family provide. He changes his name to Baruch and decides to give up plans to attend Columbia University in order to study the Talmud at yeshiva in Jerusalem. The move leads him to become ultra-Orthodox, and to Tzippy. They find that though they love one another deeply, they must constantly seek a balance between tradition, faith, and the outside world. This novel is absorbing and memorable in its presentation of the rhythms of everyday life, the joy of doing, and the need to find one's place in the community. Weddings, Sabbaths, and seders are richly detailed, and the characters, especially the couple and their mothers, are finely drawn. Mirvis writes with compassion and humor about the intersection of life and faith. Readers get a strong sense of this unique world, but the themes are universal.-Susanne Bardelson, Kitsap Regional Library, WA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A novel of Jewish manners makes gefilte fish of any stereotypes readers may have about Orthodox Jews. In Brooklyn, Tzippy Goldman, 22, is desperate to find a husband. Pressure comes from her mother, Shayna, whose less religious upbringing and marriage to the big-dreaming/small-earning Herschel have left her insecure about her place in their tight-knit Ultra Orthodox community. Tzippy slogs through countless organized "dates" until she escapes through a year of study in Israel. Meanwhile, in suburban New Jersey, Shayna's college roommate Naomi and her lawyer husband Joel send their kids to Orthodox Jewish schools but also eat pizza, love baseball, and integrate themselves into the larger community. They're shocked when their son returns from a term of study in Israel after high school to announce that he's become Baruch and intends to continue Yeshiva studies in Israel rather than attend Columbia as planned. Tzippy and Baruch/Bryan meet and fall in love, their courtship more or less strictly following religious law. But their marriage uncovers festering tensions in both their parents' homes. In the fervor of his new religiosity, Baruch/Bryan is obnoxiously know-it-all and defiant against his parents. Fuming at his son's intransigence, Joel faces his own indifference to strict observance, while, secure in her belief, Naomi explores a more personal, New Age spiritual Judaism. In the meantime, Tzippy's escape from her overbearing mother seems complete when she and Baruch move to Memphis to manager a kosher restaurant for Herschel. Surprised by how much he enjoys running the restaurant, though it fails under Herschel's interference, Baruch turns to his competent father for advice, while Tzippybegins college and discovers secular books. As the newlyweds find themselves, the parents (excepting the hopelessly irrepressible Herschel) go through their own metamorphoses. Characters and relationships evolve, defying easy categorization. Joyously sweet-natured second outing by Mirvis (The Ladies' Auxiliary, 1999)-and also pointedly insightful about just how complicated it is to lead a religious life. First printing of 75,000. Agent: Nicole Aragi