Good for the Jews

by Debra Spark

Overview

Good for the Jews is a smart, funny, sexy novel set in Madison, Wisconsin, during the Bush administration. Part mystery and part stranger-comes-to town story, Good for the Jews is loosely based on the biblical book of Esther. Like Esther, Debra Spark's characters deal with anti-Semitism and the way that powerful men—and the women who love them—negotiate bureaucracies.

At the core of the story of right and wrong are young, attractive Ellen Hirschorn and her older cousin Mose, a high school teacher who thinks he knows, in fact, what is "good for the Jews"—and for Ellen, too. Their stories intertwine with those of the school superintendent, his ex-wife and son, and a new principal. Workplace treachery, the bonds of family, coming of age, and romantic relationships all take center stage as the characters negotiate the fallout from a puzzling fire.

Spark's evocative writing style and sharp, understanding treatment of her diverse characters draw the reader into this surprising page-turner, a finalist for the 2009 Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Award.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780472034505
Publisher:	University of Michigan Press
Publication date:	07/08/2010
Series:	Michigan Literary Fiction Awards
Pages:	284
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.70(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Debra Sparkis the author of two previous novels, The Ghost of Bridgetown and Coconuts for the Saint, as well as Curious Attractions: Essays on Fiction Writing. She's been a fellow at Radcliffe College's Bunting Institute and a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts award. Her short stories, essays, and reviews have appeared in publications including Food and Wine, Esquire, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Yankee. She is a professor at Colby College and teaches in the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. She lives with her husband and son in North Yarmouth, Maine.

What People are Saying About This

Laura Kasischke

" Debra Spark's haunting and profound third novel, Good for the Jews, recasts and retells the story of the Bible's Book of Esther, setting the powerful drama this time in a contemporary school system in Madison, Wisconsin.  There is a sense of timelessness, terror, and wonder about the events, the characters, and the modern instance of anti-Semitism at the center of their intertwined tales, but this is a novel of action as well as ideas.  Insightful, beautifully constructed, and genuinely suspenseful, Debra Spark has written an important story for our time.  There is humor and romance abounding, but there is also gravity in her art.  As familiar and recognizable as the place and characters may be, Sparks's graceful writing infuses the most mundane details with resonant significance, and does honor to her inspiration and to the novel form.

Editorial Reviews

". . . a smart, sprightly, sex-drenched, and neatly plotted novel . . ."

National Public Radio and the Chicago Tribune Alan Cheuse

Spark is at her sly, funny, and cutting best in her third novel, a clever and affecting variation on the biblical story of Esther.

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