The Trick

July 1, 2017
A 10-year-old boy's quest to save his parents' marriage puts him on the trail of a Holocaust survivor known as "The Great Zabbatini."The first chapters of Bergmann's debut introduce two boys. One is Moshe Goldenhirsch, born to a formerly barren rabbi and his wife in Prague in the early days of the 20th century. The timing of the miraculous birth suggests there may have been some assistance from the locksmith upstairs. The second boy makes his entrance a full century later in Los Angeles. His name is Max Cohn, and infidelity is part of his story too--his father is being kicked out of the house due to his affair with a yoga instructor. "Your parents' divorce, Max realized, is your true bar mitzvah. It is a rite of passage separating boys from men." In alternating chapters we follow Moshe as he runs away with the circus, becomes a mentalist, gets a girlfriend, and finds great success in Berlin at the worst possible time, as the Nazis consolidate their power. Meanwhile, Max finds an LP among his father's things called "ZABBATINI: HIS GREATEST TRICKS." Among these is "The spell of eternaaaaal loooooove!" Max feels sure this spell will stop the divorce in its tracks--only the record is scratched, and that part won't play. Well then, he'll just have to track down Zabbatini himself. Max climbs out the window, jumps on the bus, and heads to the Hollywood Magic Shop, where, amazingly enough, he gets some help locating the now quite elderly man. More lucky breaks, coincidences, credibility-stretchers, and other helpful plot devices culminate in--a magic trick at Auschwitz! Gott sei dank! Diversions en route include some admirably un-PC jokes--for example, in the Jewish community of West Los Angeles, "marrying the child of a Holocaust survivor was like marrying a Kennedy." Your basic sweet, funny, magical Holocaust story.

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September 1, 2017

Bergmann's first novel tells the story of Moshe Goldenhirsch, the son of a rabbi in Prague who, in the years after World War I, runs away from home to join a circus and becomes a magician performing as the Great Zabbatini. In alternating chapters, a second story line focuses on ten-year-old Max Cohn, whose parents are getting a divorce in 21st-century California. Max has discovered an old vinyl record of Zabbatini's greatest tricks and is sure the magician can perform a spell of eternal love to reunite his parents. The plot thickens with the impending Holocaust that is likely to destroy Zabbatini. VERDICT How Moshe survives to be discovered in his old age by Max and how a link is found between the Cohn family and the Great Zabbatini turn this novel into a magic trick of its own. Bergmann's ability to create appealing, well-drawn characters and tell a gripping story is impressive. [See Prepub Alert, 3/27/17; "Editors' Fall Picks," p. 34.]--Andrea Kempf, formerly with Johnson Cty. Community Coll. Lib., Overland Park, KS

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