Sports - Fiction, Jewish Fiction & Literature

The Pigskin Rabbi

Name: The Pigskin Rabbi
Author: Willard Manus
ISBN: 9781891369230

by Willard Manus

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Overview

In this madcap comic novel, a young orthodox rabbi becomes a pro football superstar. Ezekiel "Ziggy" Cantor becomes (by a strange sequence of events) the quarterback of the New York Giants, drilling passes with godlike accuracy, kicking miraculous field goals, playing out of pure love of the game, and catapulting the team toward invincibility. Ziggy's Judaism, formerly a burden in gentile society, now becomes the apparent source of all good - for him, for the team, for its coaches and owners, for the fans and sportswriters. His teammates - convinced of the luck of the Jewish - start eating kosher food during games, prepared by Ziggy's kindly grandmother. The Giants fans chant lustily in Yiddish. Gucci-made Giants yarmelkehs are all the rage in Manhattan. New York takes Ziggy to its heart - he is a homegrown hero. Even his grandmother becomes a celebrity. Judaism is hip, it's in, and is all-empowering. The backlash from some less-hip characters - the murderous second-string quarterback, every other team in the league, and a band of Christian fundamentalists - only serves to heat things up in the second half. Meanwhile, Ziggy is tormented by doubts about the seriousness of his faith, by the implications of his affair with a gorgeous shiksa, and by his betrayal of his father.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

How does a rabbi convert the entire U.S. to Judaism? The answer, of course, is by becoming a football hero, in this wild tale by Manus (Mott the Hoople). In the hilarious first chapter, Ziggy Cantor, a rabbinical school graduate and son of a Bronx rabbi, has fled to Holland to study Spinoza, to experiment with secular ideas, and to engage in his chief love--football--far from his father's critical orthodox eye. There he is discovered by a Giants scout, and Ziggy, a natural, becomes the Giants' quarterback who turns his team from a perennial loser to a Super Bowl winner, thereby pervading America with Jewish culture. Ziggy calls plays in Yiddish, the team wears Giants-logo yarmulkes, his grandmother serves chicken soup from the sidelines and his receiver, a cocksure swaggerer, even undergoes ritual circumcision in order to become a Jew. Still, Ziggy is dogged by murderously jealous teammates, by anti-Semites and especially by his own conscience: has he betrayed his tradition? Making love to a shiksa, playing a game on Yom Kippur and his father's death all bring up doubts. But in the end, Ziggy gets it all: the gentile lover, the Super Bowl victory, fortune and fame--and he still becomes a rabbi at the end. This is a typical sports and sex fantasy, replete with aggressive male bonding and the requisite model and cheerleader dream girls. The writing is not exactly hip--and the story is predictable, but Manus has a wonderful sense of humor, and for readers who can find comic relief with his underdog's predicament, he makes a field goal. (June) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Fortunately, Manus's (Connubial Bliss, Panjandrum, 1989) grown-up fairy tale about football as it should be played does not have to be plausible. A young rabbi who has lost his conviction has returned to his first love, football. Signed by the New York Giants, Ezekiel "Ziggy" Cantor instantly becomes a star, especially when they hire his old sandlot buddy. A great toss-and-catch combination, they communicate in Yiddish, which confuses their opponents. Their teammates learn not only Yiddish from them but also a spontaneous, joyous way to play the game. Pretty soon the whole team is eating Ziggy's grandmother's chicken soup on the sidelines, and their fans are wearing official Giants yarmulkes. The only ones who don't love Ziggy are anti-Semites, opposing players, and the quarterback he replaced, who want him dead. Nonetheless, he leads his team through a great season while struggling to regain his faith. Funny, touching, and raunchy; recommended for public libraries.--Marylaine Block, St. Ambrose Univ. Lib., Davenport, IA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.