Reviews

A Brilliant Novel in the Works by Yuvi Zalkow

dhgwilliam's review against another edition

5.0

This book made me cry on an airplane. Am giving it 5 stars, assuming my memory serves.

yenteen's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

edwarde3ddd's review

4.0

What are the odds that I would be reading two books about characters who have lost control of bodily functions and both written by Jewish authors? That is the case with reading Zalkow's A Brilliant Novel in the Works and Exit Ghost by Philip Roth. I've read half a dozen of Roth's books, but this is Zalkow's first novel. Yuvi, the main character, is struggling with his book, his marriage, his Judaism. The chapters are very brief and are disjointed enough to make you think of Kurt Vonnegut and perverse enough to make you think of Palahniuk. Throw in the ability to keep the loose structure together to the end and you have "a brilliant novel in the works" (pun totally intended). I wasn't completely vested until several scenes with Yuvi and his brother in law's girlfriend, and Yuvi and his brother in law's, girlfriend's young daughter. Whereas so much of the book had focused on him telling us about what he was thinking, how he was dealing with his brother in law's illness, his disgust with his sexual deviancy, the aforementioned scenes showed us a tenderness that really makes us connect to Yuvi. Yuvi plays with this idea of showing not telling as he writes about not being able to write his novel in this, his novel. In the end, I really liked the book.