tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post269168138815194427..comments2024-01-06T10:36:04.084-05:00Comments on A Commonplace Blog: Shabbes the rabbi wore pantiesD. G. Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10659136455045567825noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-59146678840347917252009-04-03T08:15:00.000-04:002009-04-03T08:15:00.000-04:00Well, if that’s the worst that can be said about i...Well, if that’s the worst that can be said about it. . . .D. G. Myershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10659136455045567825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-34071034077446543282009-04-03T03:02:00.000-04:002009-04-03T03:02:00.000-04:00You have a really esoteric sense of humor...You have a really esoteric sense of humor...Rebecca V. O'Nealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07920443685663707856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-19772414315061168422009-04-01T11:56:00.000-04:002009-04-01T11:56:00.000-04:00Mr. Myers,Usually, a recommendation from you is re...Mr. Myers,<BR/><BR/>Usually, a recommendation from you is reason enough for me to avoid a novel. But a new novel from Wallace Markfield is a different matter. I might as well just come all the way out and confess that there were many times in the course of the writing <I>The Yiddish Policeman's Union</I> when I felt, as the dial-a-psychics say, that Markfield was with me. Whenever I hit a rough spot, he would help me over it. His comic genius, the infinite loveliness of his prose, are for me the <I>ne plus ultra</I>, not merely of American Jewish fiction, but of all fiction everywhere at all times.<BR/><BR/>Thank you for this wonderful review of his posthumous novel.Michael Chabonhttp://www.michaelchabon.com/Not.htmlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-64865874500188623752009-04-01T10:28:00.000-04:002009-04-01T10:28:00.000-04:00Thanks for the question, Rob.Rosenzweig is unmarri...Thanks for the question, Rob.<BR/><BR/>Rosenzweig is unmarried. The ladies of Temple Rimat Iyar are appalled. “A <I>shanda</I> for a rabbi not to be married,” one woman says. “You know what the Talmud says,” offers another: “a man without a wife is half a man.” “In my case,” Rosenzweig thinks, “the lower half.”<BR/><BR/>The women in the congregation try to set him up with a nice Jewish girl. Rosenzweig is uninterested in finding a girl, but he does welcome dates, and going up to the girls’ apartments afterwards—where he can rummage for “newer, more fashionable, smaller-sized prizes,” he confides.D. G. Myershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10659136455045567825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-85717577206006806662009-04-01T09:43:00.001-04:002009-04-01T09:43:00.001-04:00Great review! You've made me want to read the book...Great review! You've made me want to read the book. Markfield is a neglected genius. It's really good to see him get some respectful attention at last.<BR/><BR/>One question. Is Rabbi Rosenzweig married? How does Markfield handle that problem?Robert Levynoreply@blogger.com