Boogaloo on 2nd Avenue

December 1, 2004
In his fiction debut, Kurlansky leaves behind Cod for Lower East Side schmaltz as Nathan regrets his neighborhood's gentrification and contemplates adultery with a pastrymaker. With a five-city tour.

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2004
This novel covers very little territory geographically, but its human characters stretch from the shtetl to Caribbean isles and beyond. These denizens of New York's Lower East Side come from Germany, Italy, Poland, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Mashed together on very little land, lives collide and combine in a maelstrom of languages, customs, foods, addictions, and violence. The beginnings of neighborhood gentrification foreshadow imminent change. Kurlansky's apt description of all this is " meshugaloo," a combination of Yiddish and Spanish words that points to a sort of radical craziness. Amidst all this, Nathan Seltzer tries to fend off Kopy Katz, a predatory chain eager to swallow up his little photocopy shop, which plays a benevolent role in neighborhood life. Meanwhile, Nathan also has his eye on the daughter of the German pastry-shop owner. A mysterious murderer adds a frisson to this melange of foods and funk. Anyone not intimate with both Yiddish and Spanish and the folkways of Manhattan may find some of this story opaque. The author closes with recipes for caponata, bacala, pasteles, and kugelhopf. Based on the popularity of his nonfiction books, including " Cod "(1997), expect demand.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)

February 1, 2005
After spending many years as a journalist covering international affairs, Kurlansky (Salt: A World History) has made a sharp change of direction. He has not only written a novel, but he has also anchored it around a character so provincial he rarely leaves his East Village neighborhood and has never lived in a building separate from his parents. While the book convincingly conveys Nathan Seltzer's thought process as he experiences a midlife crisis, the novel is perhaps more interesting as a social and cultural commentary on gentrification in lower Manhattan in the 1980s and how longtime residents dealt with swift upheaval. Furthermore, Kurlansky's sophisticated commentary charms the reader to empathize with the characters while still smiling at their ethnic quirks and prejudices. Kurlansky depicts the plight of these residents in a serious fashion but also stresses their experiences as immigrants and how their quirks help them persevere when confronted with change. Someone with an indifferent attitude toward ethnic cuisine and its history may be turned off by the generous use of food imagery, but this still shouldn't take away from the story's fun. Recommended for most collections but especially in the New York metropolitan area. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 12/04.]-Kevin Greczek, Ewing, NJ

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.