Messiah Comes Tomorrow by Alan Lupo

From the Publisher

In The Messiah Comes Tomorrow, veteran journalist Alan Lupo recounts the stories of working-class Jews, both those he grew up with in Boston and those he interviewed elsewhere over four decades. "For too long now," he writes, "the perception of Jews in America is that of an upper-middle-class people engaged mainly in 'the professions' and rarely doing the dirty work. Thanks to the clichés of modern literature and film, the Jew is seen as a kvetch, a whining, self-pitying, mother-resenting character. Lost, somehow, are the others—the working stiffs, the small-time business owners, the amateur scholars, the bookies and street sluggers. . . . Such characters, very few of them famous, are part of the rich American landscape."

In this selection of columns and profiles, Lupo vividly evokes the poetry, passion, and daily struggles of common men and women. We meet the aging burlesque comedian, the bookie who swore he would not rat on his Mob associates, the dealer in secondhand clothing, the aunt and uncle who would never move up to a better apartment. Lupo captures the humor as well as the pathos of people in transition from insularity to assimilation, delineating their lamentations and wisecracks, their fatalistic humor and street smarts. The book is both a portrait of and a tribute to a culture gradually disappearing from the American scene.

About the Author:
Alan Lupo is a columnist and reporter for The Boston Globe. He is coauthor of Rites of Way: The Politics of Transportation in Boston and the U.S. City, author of Liberty's Chosen Home: The Politics of Violence in Boston, and coauthor with his wife, Caryl Rivers, of For Better, For Worse.

Library Journal

Immigrant American Jewish communities are disappearing as second-, third-, and fourth-generation Jews assimilate into mainstream American life. Boston Globe reporter/columnist Lupo has compiled columns he wrote for the paper between 1962 and 1996, focusing on immigrant Jews in the Boston area, most often his parents but also friends, relatives, schoolmates, and well-known Jewish figures such as Sandy Koufax. Lupo feels strongly that the story of his parents' generation and their gradual departure from the shtetls of Eastern Europe is one that must be preserved. Though sometimes he hits the nail right on the head (e.g., when he discusses schisms between various factions of Jewish religious practitioners), the column format results in a quick, often superficial take on complicated questions and can border on clich (the Fiddler on the Roof approach). Although Lupo is obviously thoughtful and committed to expressing a new aspect of Jewish American life, expanding these essays to give them more depth would have been helpful. Recommended only for specialized Jewish history collections.--Olga B. Wise, Compaq Computer Corp., Austin, TX Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

What People Are Saying

Jonathan Kaufman
There is no book that I know of that talks about the lives of ordinary Jews with the mixture of history, humor, and poignancy that Lupo brings. . . . He writes with sharpness and humor. . . . The pieces zip along, yet each makes a point and leaves the reader with a haunting image.
—(Jonathan Kaufman, author of Broken Alliance: The Turbulent Times between Blacks and Jews in America)

Roland Merullo
Lupo's work has flashes of beauty and wonderful humor (I found myself laughing out loud a number of times), but what most recommends it is his honesty. . . . His is precisely the type of voice that needs to be heard in the college classroom these days. The Messiah Comes Tomorrow is a monument to a very particular past, and a very impressive and finely carved one.
—(Roland Merullo, author of Revere Beach Boulevard)

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