Published in German, translated from the English by Silvia Morawetz
1950 in the district of Brownsville in Brooklyn. Almost every day Meyer Woolf, Archie Feinstein, Izzy and their friends go to Sam`s cafeteria to discuss life and the universe - love, marriage, jealousy, everyday worries, the Korean war and racism are just a few of the topics raised. Whatever the subject, someone always has a joke to tell. The men rarely agree on anything even though, all being Jewish, they have an awful in common. They interrupt each other constantly, make fun of each other, although - or perhaps even because - they are actually quite fond of one another.
The horrors of anti-Semitic persecution have led them all to seek exile in America. Even though they have escaped the worst, they still drag the past around with them. And although they pretend to be thoroughly American, they take very little for granted.
Steven Bloom`s texts owe their charm not least to the sharp precision of their brisk dialogues, reminiscent of better screwball comedies, said Ulrich Rüdenauer in a review.
The Author
Steven Bloom, born in 1942 in Brooklyn, New York as the son of a Polish Jew, now lives in Heidelberg. He was a radio journalist in the USA; for many years now he has worked as a lecturer of American Cultural Studies at Heidelberg University. Former publications: Always the Same Jokes. Novel (2000); Open Marriage (2004)A debating club for men in Brownsville. Archie Feinstein, Meyer Woolf and Izzy throw malicious but good-natured remarks at one another. Playfully light and wonderfully self-ironic.
