Rating: 
Summary: Second hand smoke can be good for you!
Review: As the adult child of a survivor it is refreshing to read from another child a creative telling of both the survivors and child's stories. We are called upon to continue to tell the stories again and again so that they may never be repeated. As our world changes they way we must tell the story must change too. It is important that we honor the memories of those who died, those who survived, and those of us who now hold the stories with publications just like this. And for American Jews the kindness which the book shows through humor makes breaking the sometimes deafing silence easier.
Rating:
Summary: A defining, highly profound, and beautifully written novel
Review: I often find Holocaust material very painful and I feel like I know "enough." Like most Jews, the Holocaust is too engraved in my psyche. Still, in "Second Hand Smoke," - which I only bought and read because I saw Thane speak at a book talk and I was truly impressed - Rosenbaum defines the Holocaust's impact on the next generation - the children of survivors. Like Frazier's "Cold Mountain" which paints the Civil War without a single battle, "Second Hand Smoke" avoids the camps but captures the horror. This is a brilliant novel. It is structually perfect, it swims in metaphor, it dances through time, it's funny, and it hurts. I am grateful that Rosenbaum took me to a place that I didn't necessarily want to be. I feel wiser. "Second Hand Smoke" moves. No preaching. No indulging. Just raw, honest story telling. A great read!
Rating:
Summary: A defining, highly profound, and beautifully written novel
Review: I often find Holocaust material very painful and I feel like I know "enough." Like most Jews, the Holocaust is too engraved in my psyche. Still, in "Second Hand Smoke," - which I only bought and read because I saw Thane speak at a book talk and I was truly impressed - Rosenbaum defines the Holocaust's impact on the next generation - the children of survivors. Like Frazier's "Cold Mountain" which paints the Civil War without a single battle, "Second Hand Smoke" avoids the camps but captures the horror. This is a brilliant novel. It is structually perfect, it swims in metaphor, it dances through time, it's funny, and it hurts. I am grateful that Rosenbaum took me to a place that I didn't necessarily want to be. I feel wiser. "Second Hand Smoke" moves. No preaching. No indulging. Just raw, honest story telling. A great read!
Rating: 
Summary: Thoughtful Thane
Review: I read this after "Golems of Gotham" and enjoyed this one even more. The entire Katz family is complex and their struggles thought-provoking and sympathetic. The supporting cast - nurses, gangsters, Nazi prison guards, models - are the fantastic foliage surrounding the main characters. Thane Rosenbaum keeps good company with other fine Jewish writers, some of whom interweave the Holocaust with other themes, some of whom stay in the shtetl, and some of whom just stay parked on the Lower East Side - go Tepper!
Rating:
Summary: This book is a must
Review: If you never read another book, you must read this novel. No, it's not about the tobacco industry; it's a post-Holocaust story, funny and gut-wrenching. It addresses the question: is it possible for survivors to have any kind of "normal" life? For Rosenbaum's characters, the answer is a resounding "no." Told from the son's point of view, the story begins with Duncan Katz's bris in Miami Beach, where his parents--the survivors-- have settled. You will love Morty the Mohel who never misses an opportunity to rail against the god he doesn't believe in. Mother Mila, who becomes the mascot/mentor of the Jewish mafia,cajoles her son to move faster, as he grows up, through all the karate colors. Then it's taekwondo and kickboxing. To hon his skills, she drops him off in rough neighborhoods, a move which even her mob friends question. The Katz mindset & lifestyle make perfect sense if you are a Holocaust survivor, but you wouldn't want to grow up in their home. You will want to read this book again.
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Taste of An Equally Amazing Perspective
Review: Thane Rosenbaum was my professor at Fordham Law School. If you cannot spare three years and $80,000 for a legal education to get a full semester-long exposure to the unique viewpoint of this gifted iconoclast - this book may be the next best thing. His voice resonates with a deep understanding of the evil that men can do but a great hope for the power of redemption and love. The book reveals - in a story which blends humor, anguish and elloquent prose (in perfect proportions) the depths of human and emotional complexity - and the amazing perspective that Thane represents. Read this book.
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Taste of An Equally Amazing Perspective
Review: Thane Rosenbaum was my professor at Fordham Law School. If you cannot spare three years and $80,000 for a legal education to get a full semester-long exposure to the unique viewpoint of this gifted iconoclast - this book may be the next best thing. His voice resonates with a deep understanding of the evil that men can do but a great hope for the power of redemption and love. The book reveals - in a story which blends humor, anguish and elloquent prose (in perfect proportions) the depths of human and emotional complexity - and the amazing perspective that Thane represents. Read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Intense and oh so important!
Review: This is a fascinating story of Duncan Katz, the son of Holocaust survivors, and how his parents' horrific experiences in the concentration camps had such an invasive influence on his own well-being, in the same way that second-hand cigarette smoke can make non-smokers quite ill! Mr. Rosenbaum has a very interesting writing style. Poetic and at times surreal (and sometimes a bit complicated), the author creates a world where not all Jews are portrayed as "nice Jewish boys", where characters such as Mila (Duncan's mother - a card shark and a gangster), Duncan and Isaac are larger-than-life but fascinating. The conclusion was extremely satisfying. I feel that this story is very important, especially as the world loses many Holocaust survivors to old age. As those with the numbers tatooed on their arms pass on, we need someone to remind the world of the atrocities inflicted by Adolf Hitler on millions and it how it still effects current generations. Thane Rosenbaum has done that job in SECOND HAND SMOKE quite effectively!
Rating:
Summary: Intense and oh so important!
Review: This is an extremely well-written novel about the child of Holocaust survivors. It is extremely suspenseful, and although parts of it are painful to read, it is difficult to put down. One of the main issues the book addresses is coping in a world that can be evil. It is also a book about families, reconciliation, and understanding.
Rating:
Summary: What you hope for in novel
Review: This may not be a proper sort of review, but it definitely is an endorsement. Take it from me, you should read this book! I finish about one of three novels I start. Life is too short to be wasted wading through the semiliterate, commercial hackwork cluttering bookstore shelves (it's a shame publishers cannot be required to turn such books back into trees). So when a work of such high intelligence, creativity, and literary skill as this by Thane Rosenbaum arrives, note must be taken. I won't try to describe this book, because other reviewers have done so as well as or better than I could. But don't linger over the reviews - run and get the book! You will be entertained and enlightened, and finally encouraged by the realization that there may still be writers among us.
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