My Holocaust

by Tova Reich

Book Overview

Successful father-and-son business partners Maurice and Norman Messer know a good product when they see it. That product is the Holocaust--and they market it enthusiastically. Maurice is a survivor with a self-inflated personal history. Norman enjoys vicarious victimhood via the second-generation movement. And nothing will prevent them from pushing their agenda and reaping the rewards. Not guilt, pride, or ethics. Not the disappearance of Norman's...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061173479
• ISBN13: 9780061173479
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.5" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Unbridled Satire

My Holocaust is a difficult book to comment upon or classify. I suppose there are two things the reader of My Holocaust should keep in mind. The dictionary definition of satire: the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc. This helps frame the entire novel, and will prevent any damaging or false reading of this work. The second is to read ALL of Tova Reich's novels before reading this one (Mara, The Master of the Return, The Jewish War). Then the reader will see how acidic her pen can truly be; how she will not broker compromise with hypocrisy or vice in less inflammatory subjects than the Holocaust (also, many of the characters from those works appear or are mentioned in My Holocaust). That said, those other works are always counter-balanced by a well-rounded character or two, giving the novels a more warm, human feel. My Holocaust has almost none of that. Except for a few pages near the end, as an unnamed nun meditates on the catastrophe that befell European Jews during World War II, this is unbridled satire, start to finish.

5 stars despite a very annoying feature ...

Ultimately, I decided that this book was so brave and daring, so well-written and so constantly laugh-out-funny (no mean feat when talking about the Holocaust), that I couldn't bring myself to give it less than 5 stars. That's not to say that I wasn't tempted though. The author has a penchant for writing both sentences and paragraphs that go on and on and on, seemingly forever. When reading a book, I find that the eye and the mind tend to seek out "resting points", whether in the form of periods to end sentences, or paragraph breaks to start new paragraphs. Ms. Reich however often seemed to have an aversion to both and the result is that sentences routinely ran more than 100 words and many (if not most) paragraphs were well over a page long. I found that when one is getting to the 123rd word in a sentence which in turn is about the 60th line in a paragraph, it becomes very hard to follow along and the mind starts to wander. When will this sentence ever end? When will this paragraph ever end? I did find that from time to time, these long sentences were used to excellent effect and were just the right technique in those certain instances. For the most part however, I just found it mentally exhausting. As I say, I still give it 5 stars, but I was annoyed by that aspect of the book.

Eye-opening, politically-incorrect and challenging satire.

MY HOLOCAUST isn't the usual nonfiction account one would expect: it's a fictional satire packed with social commentary, and its premise is certain to spark debate, interest and controversy. Here other minorities and causes want to profit from the Holocaust and its attention - and two opportunity-driven businessmen make their living peddling the Holocaust to groups that seek status through victimization. A Holocaust Museum effort backfires when terrorists try to take over the memorial in this eye-opening, politically-incorrect and challenging satire. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch

I cannot recommend this book...

...to anyone who possesses even a shred of good taste. Instead, it is for all of us who adore "non p.c" books and movies (this book makes the original Producers and Blazing Saddles look tame in comparison). Reich skewers EVERYONE, every character; no one is exempt from her savage, satiric pen. Plus, I am finding out what happened to one of my all-time favorite characters, Mara Lieb, and her family. Please do NOT read this book if you are easily offended. If you aren't easily offended by brilliant satire, then enjoy.