For me, one of the best short novels ever. Perhaps the ideal so-called "Jewish novel," or one of them. Steeped in Jewish tradition (though the protagonist is mostly urbane), bristling with life and (post-war) despair, humor, (often gallows) philosophy, written with utterly masterful style, confidence, intelligence, real-life wisdom, and elegantly ironic leavenings. I felt honored to receive this almost as an intentional, loving gift. Inspires me to go back and read more Singer. ( )

It's difficult to know what to write about this book.: Herman is a cowardly little Jew who hid out in a haystack while his people were gassed in the Holocaust. In New York, he somehow manages to have three wives at once, and one of them is pregnant. When the shit hits the fan, he runs away (of course).

This book was written in 1977, so of course the author is a sexist: "Her calves were muscular, hard as stone. . . . Her breasts were full and white; her hips were round" (p. 11). "The small girls with their broad hips and high breasts . . ." (p. 18). How I want to write in the margins . . "while he himself had a tiny penis, the width of a pencil, and flaccid buttocks. . ."!!!!!!!! ( )

Herman Broder evitó convertirse en una víctima del Holocausto gracias a Yadwiga, una sencilla campesina polaca que lo escondió en un granero durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Ahora Herman vive en Nueva York con Yadwiga, a la que no quiere, pero con la que se ha casado por agradecimiento. Sin embargo, además de su actual esposa, hay en su vida otras dos mujeres: su amante, la bella y neurótica Masha, que vive separada de su marido; y Tamara, la primera mujer de Herman, a la que él creía muerta y que de repente ha aparecido de entre las nieblas del pasado. Esta complicada situación debe solucionarse, pero Herman es incapaz de tomar una decisión.

A riveting story which lays bare the devastating effects on the psyches of survivors of persecuted people, in this case Holocaust Jews.

Almost before he knows it, Herman Broder, refugee and survivor of World War II, has three wives; Yadwiga, the Polish peasant who hid him from the Nazis; Masha , his beautiful and neurotic true love; and Tamara, his first wife, miraculously returned from the dead. Astonished by each new complication, and yet resigned to a life of evasion, Herman navigates a crowded, Yiddish New York with a sense of perpetually impending doom.