Synopses & Reviews
Maurice and Norman Messer, father-and-son business partners, know a good product when they see it. That product is the Holocaust, and Maurice, a Holocaust survivor with an inflated personal history, and Norman, enjoying vicarious victimhood as a participant in the second-generation movement, proceed to market it enthusiastically. Not even the disappearance of Nechama, Norman's daughter and Maurice's granddaughter, into the Carmelite convent at Auschwitz, where she is transformed into a nun, Sister Consolatia of the Cross, deters them from pushing their agenda.
Father and son embark on a tour of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, which Maurice—now the driving force behind the most powerful Holocaust memorialization institution in America—organizes to soften up a potential major donor, and which Norman takes advantage of to embark on a surrealistic search for his daughter. At the death camp they run into assorted groups and individuals all clamoring for a piece of the Holocaust, including Buddhist New Agers on a retreat, Israeli schoolchildren on a required heritage pilgrimage, a Holocaust artifact hustler, filmmakers, and an astonishing collection of others. All hell breaks loose when Maurice's museum is taken over by a coalition of self-styled victims seeking Holocaust status, bringing together a vivid cast of all-too-human characters, from Holocaust professionals to Holocaust wannabees of every persuasion, in the fevered competition to win the grand prize of owning the Holocaust.
An inspiringly courageous and shockingly original tour-de-force, My Holocaust dares to penetrate territory until now considered sacrosanct in its brilliantly provocative and darkly comic exploration of the uses and abuses of memory and the meaning of human suffering.
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“subversive, painful, brilliant, and, yes, both laugh-out-loud funny and illuminating…” Los Angeles Times
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“viciously funny, head-spinning...this novel is clearly in its own class” Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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“Serious and hilarious and utterly scathing... Tova Reich is the master of furys return” Washington Post Book World
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“…Reichs satire is…cynical…often hilariousand likely to cause a scandal.” Publishers Weekly
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“…it surely will be the subject of much discussion.” Library Journal
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“Reich has assembled an outlandish cast...[My Holocaust] is piercing and perceptive and cuts a wide swath.” Booklist
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“...provocative satire…powerful darts of wit and perception… clever…” Kirkus Reviews
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“A deliciously wicked satirical novel” The Forward
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“a creation that surpasses mere chutzpah on its way to the profound” Entertainment Weekly
Synopsis
A satire on the culture of victim glorification and Holocaust memory exploitation, My Holocaust follows the careers of the fatherandndash;son team, Maurice and Norman Messer, who know a good product when they see it. That product is the Holocaustandndash;and Maurice, a survivor with a selfandndash;enhancing inflated personal history, and Norman, enjoying vicarious victimhood as a participant in the secondandndash;generation movement, proceed to market it enthusiastically. Not even the disappearance of Nechama, Norman's daughter and Maurice's granddaughter, into the Carmelite convent at Auschwitz, where she is transformed into a nun, Sister Consolatia of the Cross, deters them from pushing their agenda. The novel follows them on a tour of the Auschwitzandndash;Birkenau death camp, which Maurice, now the driving force behind the most powerful Holocaust memorialization institution in the U.S., organizes to soften up a major potential donor, and which Norman takes advantage of to embark on a surrealistic search for his daughter.
The novel reaches its climax in the takeover of the U.S. Holocaust museum by a coalition of selfandndash;styled victims all seeking Holocaust status, bringing together a large cast of characters from every side of the spectrumandndash;from Holocaust wannabees (African and Native Americans, Muslims, women, etc.) to Holocaust professionalsandndash; who proceed to mindlessly sacrifice their own children and drain all meaning from suffering and memory in the fevered competition to win the grand prize.
Synopsis
< p=""> < i=""> A satire on the culture of victim glorification and Holocaust memory exploitation, My Holocaust follows the careers of the father& ndash; son team, Maurice and Norman Messer, who know a good product when they see it. That product is the Holocaust& ndash; and Maurice, a survivor with a self& ndash; enhancing inflated personal history, and Norman, enjoying vicarious victimhood as a participant in the second& ndash; generation movement, proceed to market it enthusiastically. Not even the disappearance of Nechama, Norman's daughter and Maurice's granddaughter, into the Carmelite convent at Auschwitz, where she is transformed into a nun, Sister Consolatia of the Cross, deters them from pushing their agenda. The novel follows them on a tour of the Auschwitz& ndash; Birkenau death camp, which Maurice, now the driving force behind the most powerful Holocaust memorialization institution in the U.S., organizes to soften up a major potential donor, and which Norman takes advantage of to embark on a surrealistic search for his daughter.<> < p=""> The novel reaches its climax in the takeover of the U.S. Holocaust museum by a coalition of self& ndash; styled victims all seeking Holocaust status, bringing together a large cast of characters from every side of the spectrum& ndash; from Holocaust wannabees (African and Native Americans, Muslims, women, etc.) to Holocaust professionals& ndash; who proceed to mindlessly sacrifice their own children and drain all meaning from suffering and memory in the fevered competition to win the grand prize.<> < p=""> <> <> <>
About the Author
Tova Reich is the author of the novels Mara, Master of the Return, and The Jewish War. Her stories have appeared in Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, AGNI, Conjunctions, and elsewhere. In 1996, she won the National Magazine Award for her story "The Lost Girl." She lives outside Washington, D.C.