literary and discursive, but somehow good. Cohen based this novel on a real life incident that Harold Bloom had told him about, when The Netanyahu's (the parents, siblings and a young Benjamin Netanyahu) visited Cornell, where Bloom was teaching. In this novelized version of the event, Reuben Blum is a professor of economic history, and the Netanyahu visit lays waste to his professional and family life.

It's funny at times, with lots of discussion about anti-semitism, history, Jewish identity in the US and Israel. ( )

I have to admit that this is a pretty funny story and that the real Netanyahus (Netan-Yahoos!) must be a pretty unusual family. ( )

Cohen è indubbiamente maturato bene

A giudicare dalle recensioni in rete, il fatto che con questo libro Joshua Cohen ha vinto il Pulitzer 2022 ha fatto rosicare tanta gente. Non c'è dubbio, è un testo politicamente molto pesante e decisamente schierato. Sì, come spiegato nel capitolo finale il libro è liberamente (molto liberamente, mi sa...) ispirato a un aneddoto che Harold Bloom raccontò a Cohen poco tempo prima di morire. Sì, la famiglia Netanyahu non ci fa certo una bella figura: non tanto Bibi quanto padre madre e fratello maggiore, l'eroe ucciso a Entebbe. Ma la storia reggerebbe anche se la famiglia in questione si fosse chiamata chessò Friedman. Come sempre, Cohen mette tanta, tanta roba nel suo libro, dalle scenette di una famiglia ebrea anche se non molto osservante ai discorsi politici sulla diaspora e la nascita dello stato di Israele visti dall'estrema destra, dalla vita nel 1950 in una cittadina universitaria di Upstate New York ai primi segni del consumismo che sarebbe arrivato. Rispetto alle sue opere precedenti però il testo scorre molto più omogeneo, e il lettore non fa fatica a passare dalle risate amare sul direttore di dipartimento ai tentativi della figlia Judy di convincere i genitori a farle rifare il naso. Io mi sono divertito a leggerlo, nella come al solito ottima traduzione di Claudia Durastanti, e ho imparato un po' di cose nuove, che in un'opera di narrativa non è certo scontato. ( )

This audiobook was quite well done, with sound effects (doorbells, phones, music, etc)--I think audiobooks have as much potential to be true audio experiences as old radio shows. Very few even try, but this one certainly does--though some of the musical interludes were way too long (the chapter breaks, maybe?).

I am always ready to admit my frustration with books that are "based on history" ie, present real people in real-ish situations and write around it. I hate this, especially when featuring living people or their immediate descendants. It is fake history, there are no standards, and often presents a negative image (which may or may not be accurate--but there are no sources!!). So, much of this story annoyed me. BUT--the sections that can truly be considered a "campus novel" were hilarious. The politics of departments, the infighting in class schedules and the ownership of subjects were absolutely hilarious. I truly laughed, especially in the section where Blum explains that though his history department has a reputation as being progressive ahead of its time in that it focused less on Europe, it wasn't because of any anti-colonial belief. It was because the chair. wants to be the only Europeanist in the department. Europe was his, and he would not hire anyone who might compete with him. This is so hilariously believable AND it is also hilariously believable that that would get twisted into the department being ahead of its time (when really it was the opposite--old WASP can;t tolerate any "competition").

So--this evened out for me. Good audio production, hilarious and infuriating sections. ( )

Joshua Cohen was a young author unknown to me, so THE NETANYAHUS (2021) was my introduction to his work, and I just flat-out enjoyed the holy hell outa this book. It's a rather cerebral (much about the persecution of the Jews in the middle ages and beyond, some of which may or may not be true) and often hilarious novel of academia set on a small college campus in rural New York in 1959-60. I call it cerebral because you really have to pay close attention to some of the rants and speeches here about being Jewish and the historical trials and tribulations of same. Our narrator is Professor Ruben Bloom, the only (token?) Jew on the faculty at Corbin College, indeed perhaps the only Jew in town. He is tasked by his Department Chair to host an applicant coming to interview for a faculty position. That applicant is Dr Ben-Zion Netanyahu, coming from Israel via Philadelphia, who brings along his whole family - outspoken wife Tzila and three rowdy sons: Jonathan (13), Benjamin/Bibi (10) and Iddo (7) - who proceed to disrupt and lay waste to the Blooms' quiet home and family, and to the whole carefully planned proceedings. And yes, that middle son is THE Benjamin Netanyahu who is still so much in the news today. Indeed the book's subtitle is AN ACCOUNT OF A MINOR AND EVEN NEGLIGIBLE EPISODE IN THE HISTORY OF A VERY FAMOUS FAMILY. So. Fiction based on fact? Yes, or kind of. And be sure to read Cohen's "Credits & Extra Credits" at the end of the book, which explains much about the whole Netanyahu family and also the author's unique friendship with the noted literary critic Harold Bloom.

I absolutely loved this novel. So much that I already have another Joshua Cohen novel (MOVING KINGS) on my must-read list. Very, very highly recommended.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER ( )