Name: Kaddish.com
Rating: 3.8 (5 reviews)
ISBN: 9788806236878

Nathan Englander

Kaddish.com

Lia 

The Pulitzer finalist delivers his best work yet--a brilliant, streamlined comic novel, reminiscent of early Philip Roth and of his own most masterful stories, about a son's failure to say Kaddish for his father Larry is an atheist in a family of orthodox Memphis Jews. When his father dies, it is his responsibility as the surviving son to recite the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, every day for eleven months. To the horror and dismay of his mother and sisters, Larry refuses--thus imperiling the fate of his father's soul. To appease them, and in penance for failing to mourn his father correctly, he hatches an ingenious if cynical plan, hiring a stranger through a website called kaddish.com to recite the daily prayer and shepherd his father's soul safely to rest. This is Nathan Englander's freshest and funniest work to date--a satire that touches, lightly and with unforgettable humor, on the conflict between religious and secular worlds, and the hypocrisies that run through both. A novel about atonement; about spiritual redemption; and about the soul-sickening temptations of the internet, which, like God, is everywhere.

Jan Talkington

A light, quick read about a wayward Jewish son that does not want to commit to saying kaddish for his father. His solution, hire someone to do it through kaddish.com. Fast forward a few years and the wayward Jewish son has become a devout Jew and is now struggling with what he did those many years ago. His solution is to find the person who said kaddish and redeem his birthright.

A simple story told well, even though it would have been more enjoyable if I knew the Jewish terms used. Larry/Shuli draws you into his moral dilemma and the methods he uses to resolve it. I always consider a book successful when at the end, I wonder what happens next. This is one of those books. It is a satire, so not a heavy read, but it does have some good moral truths.

Dennis Jacob Rosenfeld

Larry is an atheist in a family of orthodox Memphis Jews. When his father dies, it is his responsibility as the surviving son to recite the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, every day for eleven months. To the horror and dismay of his mother and sisters, Larry refuses-- thus imperiling the fate of his father's soul. To appease them, and in penance for failing to mourn his father correctly, he hires a stranger through a website called Kaddish.com to recite the daily prayer and shepherd his father's soul safely to rest. -- adapted from jacket

Kaddish.com

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