Stern

I appreciate the exact description of the book and the care you gave to the packaging of a first edition. I would absolutely purchase from this seller again.

I'm on my bberry which is not my favorite way to type, but i just finished Stern then came here, saw the paltry number of reviews, including two scathing ones and just had to put in my two cents.This book was great. My first taste of bjf and I can't wait to read more of him.The main character fascinated me. He had all the trappings of normalcy-- white collar job, house in the suburbs, wife and kid-- but it was all a potemkin village. There was no there there. No center to his being, just a bundle of neuroses-- feelings of inferiority, self hatred, disconnectedness, isolation, vulnerability, etc, the result of beinge raised by deeply neurotic, narcissistic parents that is an unfortunate legacy of a history of persecution. Bottom line: he was a walking disaster. While I didn't find the book "hilarious" as did some commenters here, I definitely enjoyed the dark humor with which the story of stern's descent into temporary madness was told; not only did it go with his jewishness, but without it, the book would have been unbearably sad.

I am an avid reader & can wrap my mind around just about any genre or author (except epic saga romances) but this book was unreadable to me it was maybe interesting in the 60's when it was first released (although to whom I can't imagine) but i just couldn't stomach this book It is just plain silly, frustrating & boring and I am sorry I wasted $ on ordering it hopefully anyone considering this book won't make the same mistake I did, thinking you're getting a quaint, rediscovered gem because, like me you'll regret it.

My first thought was : I'm only a non-practicing Jew , but I'm tired of Jewish stereotyping in books, movies, and TV. But as I got into it I found it was engaging, and funny. I guess the Stern character could be a neurotic man of any ethnic background.

Very odd book. It may have been groundbreaking when it appeared in the early 60s but now it shows its age. Probably because so much novel writing has explored alienated behavior since then. Seen one way, it is about the flight of city people to the suburbs that started after WW 2. But that's only peripheral to the plot. The main character, Stern, seems to have no center to his psyche, no awareness that he has an inner self. I read elsewhere that Friedman's writing has to do with exploring entropy. That makes sense. Stern doesn't act but is acted upon. When he does do something it is a reaction based on fear. In his attempt to face a challenge to his dignity he has a breakdown. But there is no humor in any of this unless you consider it 'black humor,' a term Friedman is believed to coin and the concept which this novel is supposed to elucidate. It would seem to me that to describe humanity's condition in an ironically negative way you would have to create a real, human character who is truly sentient and knows that he feels pain. Stern is a cipher, not really alive in the fullest sense and his life is just tedious. Unfortunately, so is the novel. There are of course some amusing incidents (and that makes it a 3) that make you want to discover more but the search isn't worth the time or effort.

Important and unknown early novel by Bruce Jay Friedman. Was told about it and it did not disappoint. On the level of Salinger or Roth, I think.Who would have thought?

I did not like theWHOLE OOK.

So great. It's not really about anything but that's kind of what makes it so powerful!