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Summary: Meyer Nudelman's answer: My-T-Fine
Review: The most touching part of this wonderfully-written book, for me, was the part about the pudding that Sherwin Nuland's father, Meyer Nudelman, made for his adult son. The bountiful offerings of pudding became a panacea, an effort to indulge a child both beloved and beleagured by his father.The book soars to its zenith with one short, simple and masterful understatement at the end of the first full paragraph on page 197. There were many other rewards, but for that alone, it was worth reading.
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Summary: Lost and Found in America
Review: This is a can't-put-down, heart rending, yet uplifting story of a poor Jewish family in New York durning the 30's, 40's, and 50's who are truly "lost". Out of the turmoil, love is ultimately the beacon for a discovery - a finding of self at great personal cost, but a finding, nonetheless. Nuland's sensitive ears and eyes carry the reader, not along, but into the very lives and daily goings-on of his family. His use of sounds within the language carry the reader into the very sense of the sometimes almost poetic text. For example, expect heavy use of b, d, g, p, and t sounds when the text is 'heavy' and many more f, l, m, n, v, and w sounds when the meaning is lighter. There is even occasional internal rhyme in the text; I particularly enjoyed gawgle-mawgle. The ingredients are there. Try one; you'll like it even though your waist line won't. In short, to miss this book is to be a bit lost in America, too, but to find it is to also be found.
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Summary: Searing memoir and eulogy of love
Review: Whoa, this is a hard one. Lost in America, written by the gifted Nuland, is an ode to his father, a work of self-therapy for himself, a gift to his readers, and an offering to anyone looking for resolution and understanding of a difficult family situation.
Lost in America begins with the author admitting to coming under the grips of debilitating depression, and the writing of this book seems to have been his way of fighting out of that despair, of coming to terms with some of its causes, and of trying to explain all that went wrong with his father's life as a Jewish immigrant in America - and how those failures impacted Sherwin Nuland. The turning point comes with Nuland's discovery that his father suffered the mental and neurological effects of late-stage syphilis - and with his acceptance that happiness for him would be impossible.
Heartbreaking and oh, so beautifully written. But also difficult (on an emotional level) to read; you may find yourself putting it aside for a few days before wanting to continue. But persevere and read to the end. You won't regret it.
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