Synopses & Reviews
In researching the life of his boxer father Sonny, historian Moses Lapinsky uncovers a pivotal event. On a hot Toronto night in 1933, at an amateur baseball game at Christie Pits field, four Nazi youths flashed a large black swastika, shouting "Heil Hitler!" Within seconds, a group of Jewish youths charged at them, trying to grab the flag. One of the Nazi youths snatches back the banner and breaks free, running with the flag through the park, setting off a four-hour race riot involving 15,000 people, injuring hundreds, and sending scores to the hospital.
In this panoramic novel, Karen X. Tulchinsky traces the fortunes of the Lapinskys from the evening of the riots through World War II and into the 1950s. It is then, in a boxing ring at Madison Square Garden, that Sonny Lapinsky must decide whether or not to reconcile with a family torn apart by a violent past a decision that will affect generations to come, including his son and future biographer, Moses. Set against the Great Depression, race riots, and World War II, this family saga about a Jewish boy-cum-champion boxer is filled with humor, sorrow, bravery, folly, and the stuff of everyday life.
Review
"Devastatingly effective." Now Magazine
Review
"A lovingly written, sweeping drama." Toronto Star
Review
"Thoroughly credible. A good, solid, readable work." Globe and Mail
Review
"Old fashioned in the very best sense: it's got lots of heart." National Post
Synopsis
In 2003, a mild-mannered historian named Moses Lapinsky jots down notes for a biography. The biography is to be of his father Sonny, a famous Jewish-Canadian boxer. As Moses buries himself in research, he is transported back to the pivotal events in his father's life. In a novel crammed with humour, sorrow, folly, bravery and the richness of everyday life, Tulchinsky traces the remarkable fortunes of the Lapinsky family.
About the Author
Karen X. Tulchinsky is the author of Love and Other Ruins (Polestar, 2001), a sequel to her bestselling novel Love Ruins Everything. She was born in Toronto and now makes her home in Vancouver.