"At once a travel tale, a historical meditation, a Holocaust revenge fantasy, and a bedroom farce."―D. T. Max, New York Times Book Review
Leib Goldkorn, aged musician, first appeared almost a quarter-century ago in The Steinway Quintet. Now Leib has replaced his magic flute with his phallus: it is love, longing, and the quest for sexual fulfillment that must stave off both his own death and the imminent destruction of the Jews. In Ice he rescues the celebrated skater Sonja Henie from Hitler's clutches. In Fire his paramour is Carmen Miranda. And in Water he engages in a South Sea Island intrigue with a famous swimming star of the 1940s. Meanwhile, in the present, Leib seeks consummation with three other inamoratas: Clara, his wife; Hustler model Miss Crystal Knight; and the critic Michiko Kakutani (causing a real-life literary scandal). In this "wickedly funny" (Elle) and no less heartbreaking novel, Leib Goldkorn emerges as one of American literature's most enduring, and endearing, creations. A New York Times Notable Book; a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year."synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Take for example, the circumstances surrounding Goldkorn's providential departure from Europe on the eve of World War II, detailed in "Ice": having failed in an assassination attempt against Hitler at the 1936 Olympics, he finds himself in Paris during Kristallnacht. Then a telegram from movie mogul Daryl Zanuck arrives, summoning him to Hollywood to compose a score for a new Sonja Henie film. The next novella, "Fire," has our hero on his way to Brazil where he hopes to convince the great Arturo Toscanini to sneak his operetta A Jewish Girl in the Persian Court into a presidential performance of Aida--all part of a plan to woo the Brazilian president away from Germany. On his way, of course, he meets Carmen Miranda and the rest is history--according to Leib Goldkorn. The final selection, "Water," finds this wandering Jew back in Hollywood where Esther Williams is slated to star in a film version of his operetta. But just when it seems Goldkorn's mission of warning the world about the Nazi peril is about to be realized, he himself blows it out of the water--literally.
Epstein presents these adventures as memoirs, remembrances of things past recollected by an elderly man as he tries to masturbate on his 94th birthday (his doctor has prescribed a yearly ejaculation). Goldkorn's amorous adventures weave in and around greater issues: the destruction of European Jewry, and the burdens placed on those who survived. Ice Fire Water is a very funny book, but its high humor coexists with a profound recognition that the other side of this very thin coin is stamped with tragedy. --Margaret Prior
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
FREE
Within U.S.A.
Book Description Paperback or Softback. Condition: New. Ice Fire Water 0.62. Book. Seller Inventory # BBS-9780393320909
Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. This item is printed on demand. Seller Inventory # 9780393320909
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # ABLIING23Feb2215580177062
Book Description Condition: New. . Seller Inventory # 52GZZZ00VXR2_ns
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. Leib Goldkorn, aged musician, first appeared almost a quarter-century ago in The Steinway Quintet. Now Leib has replaced his magic flute with his phallus: it is love, longing, and the quest for sexual fulfillment that must stave off both his own death and the imminent destruction of the Jews. In Ice he rescues the celebrated skater Sonja Henie from Hitler's clutches. In Fire his paramour is Carmen Miranda. And in Water he engages in a South Sea Island intrigue with a famous swimming star of the 1940s. Meanwhile, in the present, Leib seeks consummation with three other inamoratas: Clara, his wife; Hustler model Miss Crystal Knight; and the critic Michiko Kakutani (causing a real-life literary scandal). In this "wickedly funny" (Elle) and no less heartbreaking novel, Leib Goldkorn emerges as one of American literature's most enduring, and endearing, creations. A New York Times Notable Book; a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year. "At once a travel tale, a historical meditation, a Holocaust revenge fantasy, and a bedroom farce."D. T. Max, New York Times Book Review This item is printed on demand. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780393320909
Book Description Condition: New. In. Seller Inventory # ria9780393320909_new
Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. This item is printed on demand. New copy - Usually dispatched within 5-9 working days. Seller Inventory # C9780393320909
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 272 pages. 7.75x5.25x0.75 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # x-0393320901
Book Description Taschenbuch. Condition: Neu. nach der Bestellung gedruckt Neuware - Printed after ordering - Leib Goldkorn, aged musician, first appeared almost a quarter-century ago in The Steinway Quintet. Now Leib has replaced his magic flute with his phallus: it is love, longing, and the quest for sexual fulfillment that must stave off both his own death and the imminent destruction of the Jews. In Ice he rescues the celebrated skater Sonja Henie from Hitler's clutches. In Fire his paramour is Carmen Miranda. And in Water he engages in a South Sea Island intrigue with a famous swimming star of the 1940s. Meanwhile, in the present, Leib seeks consummation with three other inamoratas: Clara, his wife; Hustler model Miss Crystal Knight; and the critic Michiko Kakutani (causing a real-life literary scandal). In this 'wickedly funny' (Elle) and no less heartbreaking novel, Leib Goldkorn emerges as one of American literature's most enduring, and endearing, creations. A New York Times Notable Book; a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year. Seller Inventory # 9780393320909
Book Description Condition: New. Dieser Artikel ist ein Print on Demand Artikel und wird nach Ihrer Bestellung fuer Sie gedruckt. Über den AutorLeslie Epstein has written eight books of fiction including King of the Jews, San Remo Drive, and Pandemonium and won an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Distin. Seller Inventory # 602725275