I never thought a Yom Kippur sermon could be so interesting. Read about the events that lead the Rabbi to the sermon he gives and how he ties Buddism into Judaism. It's engrossing and delightful!

A PORTABLE APOCALYPSE: A Quotable Companion to the End of the World," Edited by Allan Appel

"...tackles a wide range of subjects like Heaven...and Hell." Detroit Free Press 1/7/99

It is "small enough to fit in your hand - big enough to mess with your head," the flap copy promises. And Mr. Appel delivers with quotes from the biblical texts of many faiths, plus a dazzling doomsday chorus including George Bernard Shaw, Peggy Noonan, Frank Zappa, Sen. Phil Gramm, Will rogers and James Baldwin. He covers everything from heaven...to hell." Dallas Morning News 1/3/99

While the premise of this novel sounds quite interesting, Appel has managed to write a tale of surprisingly little depth. The first problem is the characters. It takes Appel a great number of pages to make one Jewish husband distinct from another or one non-Jewish wife distinct from another. Even then, the characters usually seem like mouthpieces for the religious musings at hand, rather than flesh and blood people. And then there's the dialogue... While apparently many reviewers are pleased with the snappy New York repartee, the letters to home by the fundamentalist would-be restaurateur simply don't ring true: for example, snake-handling and St. Jerome aren't usually in a shared fundamentalist lexicon. Also, the characters are said to be "fiftyish", but they don't sound like (or act like) "fiftyish" people, seeming to be far more unsettled and breezy. I wonder if the ages given were necessary to make them ex-60s liberals; it seems a bit convenient. Finally, the ending is quite disappointing: suffice it to say that Appel manages to build one round, convincing character, then dramatically finishes her story in an unsatisfying (and unfair) manner.

Some books I love because the characters are fun and the situations so novel, I can't put the books down. Other books I love because the writer, through the story, taps into Big Questions of life, that make me question my own existence. THis book did both. It was a rollercoaster ride.