A great premise and plot, interesting characters, an unusual perspective on the Jewish-American experience and the founding of Israel, but ultimately a major disappointment. The writing never took complete advantage of all of these great elements, so I always felt aware of reading as opposed to getting lost in the world of the book. The story was compelling enough to keep me going until the end though, which was the most disappointing of all. I felt utterly betrayed by the resolution of this book. ( )

Gevalt! ( )

A great premise -- boy finds frozen rabbi in meat freezer -- but a messy novel. After the rabbi thaws out during power shortage, Stern tells lots and lots of family history and gives the rabbi a following. There are some good laughs but, alas, it felt as if Stern tried to fit too much Jewish history into one novel. A plus: lots of Yiddish vocabulary. ( )

This book got off to a strong start. It jumps between present time - when Bernie finds an frozen 100 year old Rabbi in his parents freezer, and the past as the frozen Rabbi is carted through Europe and the Lower East Side. It combines an immigrant tale with a satirical send-up of the Kabballah movement. I did not really enjoy the modern chapters, and the story of what happens when the Rabbi is defrosted gets ridiculous and offensive. The last few chapters were painful to read. Many have compared this to a Michael Chabon. Chabon does not let his readers down like Stern did here!
( )

An epic novel reminiscent of Michael Chabon's THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY, THE FROZEN RABBI tells how a nineteenth century rabbi from a small Polish shetl ends up in a deep freeze in twentieth century Memphis, Tenn.; and what happens to the boy who finds the rabbi, thaws him, and introduces him to the modern day world. Dramatic and outrageously funny, this novel is a wonder. ( )