| ________________
CM . . . . Volume XXIII Number 37 . . . . June 2, 2017
excerpt:
In the winter of 1965, Norman Fishbein, 11, wins a thousand dollars in a shopping mall contest and decides to spend the money to take his family on vacation to Miami Beach. Staying at the Royal Palm Hotel, he and his older brothers strike up a sneering rivalry with the Horvath sisters from New Jersey, with Norman and Amy Horvath hiding their friendship from their respective older siblings. They are both enchanted by aging comedian Mort Ziff who is headlining the hotel's dining room, but when Ziff is ousted from his gig by the Beatles-aping Centipedes, Norman and Amy convince the hotel's eccentric owner to put him in the hotel coffee shop instead, and they engineer a truce between the Fishbein and Horvath kids so that they can work together to make Ziff's gig a success. A quirky, understated, and dryly comedic story, this easy to read book spins a tale that in the hands of a lesser storyteller would seem thin, baffling, and improbable. Instead, Fagan manages to make gold, turning an old fashioned vacation adventure into something more subtle, even graceful. The story, itself, is straightforward, told with an almost blunt directness, but with moments of oblique humour and occasional fleeting tenderness that make it special. The characters, too, are presented almost matter of factly, occasionally with little dimension, as in the sibling and boy girl rivalries. But it is Ziff, himself—stoic, wry, just short of contemptuous—that makes this book worthwhile. Among the most memorable moments are the classic style jokes in Ziff's performance scenes, the hilarious Beatles send up in the self-absorbed Centipedes, and the boys' horror when their mother dons a swimsuit (apparently, they are not as ready as their parents for the swinging 60s!). The book ends on a tiny wisp of a serious note: on their taxi ride to the Miami airport, their black cabbie tells them how people like him—even Harry Belafonte—aren't allowed in hotels like the Royal Palm, just like Jews were once banned. Nothing self serious about it, but Norman is just smart and sensitive enough for this comment to stick with him. Highly Recommended. Todd Kyle is the CEO of the Newmarket Public Library in Ontario and Past President of the Ontario Library Association. Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.
Next Review |
Table of Contents for This Issue
- June 2, 2017. |
