Save Me, Julie Kogon by Allen Ruff
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(Paperback)
- Pub. Date: March 2007
- 268pp
- Sales Rank: 249,511
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Product Details
- Pub. Date: March 2007
- Publisher: Trafford Publishing
- Format: Paperback, 268pp
- Sales Rank: 249,511
- ISBN-13: 9781425103200
- ISBN: 1425103200
Synopsis
Who shows up for the funeral when Harry Rabin suddenly dies, and why? A revealing tale of Jewish New Haven's underside told with savvy wit and loving compassion.
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Save Me, Julie Kogonby Anonymous
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February 25, 2008: Old but not too old. Allen Ruff recreates a neighborhood and a cast of characters long destroyed by modern 'progress'. His descriptions of the characters and how they react to one another brought this long gone world back to life. Throw in multi generational patterns of behavior and you have a vivid story that will be long remembered.
Save Me, Julie Kogonby Anonymous
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October 02, 2007: For over seventy years, Harry Rabin ?danced to his own tune,? in New Haven?s ethnic working-class streets. Stumbling at times, he followed that tune to the pain, joy, and astonishment of others. As they prepare to bury him, Harry?s three sons try to make sense of ?the ol? man?s? last words, ?Save me, Julie, save me.? To them, the phrase is a mystery. To Harry?s friends -- Louis, the undertaker, Gambi, the mob boss, and Jakey, onetime Red and estranged buddy -- the remarks are a shared secret that captures much of Harry?s lifelong dance. Allen Ruff?s first novel is a captivating multi-generational tale of love, loss, betrayal, and discovery. Ruff is a superb storyteller and what a story he tells. Save Me, Julie Kogon is a clear-eyed look at complicated human relationships. It is also a vibrant account of New Haven?s gritty Legion Ave. Jewish neighborhood. Ruff writes with flair and humor about a world he knows well. He delights with rich descriptions of meals, eateries, and neighborhood life and snippets about 1950s? television and 1960s? campus life. He has an excellent ear for dialogue, a sharp eye for detail, and the skill to capture both in concise, vivid prose. A published historian, Ruff skillfully sets the context for Harry?s dance. While keeping his focus on Rabin family and its immediate world, he frames the story with the old neighborhood of chicken sellers, tenements, and bathhouses, a 1940s? fight scene that captures a changing ethnic world, and finally the post-war world with urban renewal and the third-generation?s experiences. Ruff takes stylistic chances and pulls them off. Moving fluidly between the past and present, he uses flashbacks and dream sequences to capture Harry?s world and four generations of Rabin family dynamics. Harry Rabin was a piece of work. Save Me, Julie Kogon is itself a tremendous piece of work. It?s fast-paced, fun to read and insightful.
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