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The author attempts to save his wife and young daughter by becoming a ghetto policeman. The German Nazis cynically realized that Jewish men could best keep their fellow human beings under control. False hopes were conveyed to the Jews promising that their situation would be secure if only they cooperated. "Jews perished first of all because they didn't realize in time what level German cruelty and barbarism would reach," added the author. The 27 year old Perechodnik is forced to choose the less of evils. Ultimately, his family is not spared and the author is trapped in an environment where treachery, greed, and murder are the norm. Perechodnik's chronicle is not easy reading. It is a moral duty, and not in the least bit pleasurable. The reader will constantly be challenged to dwell upon the horrific choices of Perechodnik. The awkward question of how we would behave under similar circumstances is inevitable.
There are a few other books mandating your legitimate interest. Only a few months ago, the Holocaust scholar Jan T. Gross released his superb work "Neighbors" which deals with similar atrocities committed in the Polish town of Jedwabne. Peter Wyden's "Stella" published in 1992 concerns a young Jewish woman who for purely selfish reasons betrayed her friends to the Nazis. Only the very thin veneer of civilization separates us from barbarism. Thus, we are obligated not to ignore the unpleasant truths about the recorded depths of human depravity. Increasing our knowledge betters our chances of curtailing future horrors.
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Although this slim volume isn't packaged as a mystery, it's hard to write about it without it seeming mysterious, as much of the action is propelled by questions waiting to be answered: "Who are these fellows?", "Why do they behave so oddly?", "If they're brothers, why are they so very different?" There are answers and they are mysterious, but that's not all this book is about.
What is it about, you ask? Well, it's about identity. It's about the little vortex of oddness that goes by the name "New Orleans". It's about tourism, gentrification, petty theft and Mardi Gras. It's about accepting who you are, even if who you are isn't what you expected.
The book is described here as being in the spirit of "A Confederacy of Dunces", an assessment with which I agree, as both are fun and tragic comedic tales of fish out of water, trying to survive in a world that makes no sense.
"19 1/2 Revelations" opens with Moto arriving in New Orleans and applying for a job at the public library (all the while ruminating on sloths), pursued by his brother Abe. Both are in the city looking for the truth about "the clipping", a newspaper article concerning UFOs and a discarded baby. Hijinx ensue and the two are soon joined by Roberto, a local businessman who drives them around town.
Fox's writing is light and breezy, making this an easy read and suiting the tale beautifully. It's obvious he's a resident by the locations he chooses and by the fact that, as in "Funky Butt Blues", he uses his fiction to grouse about local eyesores, such as the casino and the SuperDome. The only thing I didn't like was the character Roberto, who seemed a little too "Deus ex Machina" for my tastes, always arriving just in time to feed the brothers, drive them around, fix their car, etc. But it's a small complaint and a forgivable one.
Once they are escorted from the building, they try to find Moto's car, but he had parked it on a carnaval route and it has been towed. They eventually track the car to where it has been towed, but it has been vandalized and is no longer drivable. The next several days proceed with such discordant incidents, including beed chasing, Moto being jailed after saving a girl's life, an underwear ball at a department store.
19 1/2 REVELATIONS mimics its carnvalistic background with a kalidoscope of odd incidents, happenstance, and revelations. As people continuously comment that these twin brothers look absolutely nothing alike, the reader becomes aware of their odd yet profound relationship. They seem to spend a lot of time losing each other, finding each other, and bailing one another out of trouble. Ultimately they become as finely defined as the detail within in the kalidoscope just before it shifts to form a new image. An unusual, yet compelling read, 19 1/2 REVELATIONS comes recommended.
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