Reviews

Prayers for the Living by Alan Cheuse

kurstedt's review

3.0

I really enjoyed this story and like the idea of it being told by the mother/grandmother but honestly it just felt weird to hear about the sex/intimate scenes described by her about her own son. That said it is a great story and appreciate the publisher providing a free copy through a Goodreads giveaway for an honest review.

susannam's review

4.0

This is, as the back cover blurb says, a tour de force in writing. Alan Cheuse somehow manages to combine seamlessly the speaking voice, deliciously cadenced, of a Jewish immigrant mother/grandmother AND her inner thoughts, which are expressed without an accent and even poetically while still allowing the reader to understand that both these differently expressed voices are authentic. The plot itself is simple: son of immigrants rises spectacularly and then suffers a devastating downfall because of his relationships within his family. I rated this 4 stars instead of 5 because I recommend it for reading with a caveat: it took me about one third of the way into the book before I understood how Minnie Bloch's two "voices" worked (my fault - in looking back, I see that she did offer an explanation of how it was that she could "see" what was happening to her family without actually witnessing it) and then I found the telegraphed downfall so sad and disturbing that I needed breaks from reading it. The last 50 or so pages redeemed it all. These criticisms are based on my own emotional reaction to the book - maybe my star rating should rise because of that - Alan Cheuse engaged my discomfort.