Baltimore Jewish Times Book Review of "Barney Ross: The Life of a Jewish Fighter".Comments (0)

Barney Ross: The Life of a Jewish Fighter

Douglas Century
Schocken Books 2009, $12.95, 217 pages (softback)

Rashi, David, Spinoza, Maimonides — Barney Ross? One might wonder why Nextbook and Schocken chose a boxer for its Jewish Encounters series, but the story of Barney Ross is the story of the ultimate Jewish warrior. The power of his life story makes this a book I recommended not only to my father and my husband, but also to the women of my synagogue’s Sisterhood.

“Barney Ross” tells a gritty immigrant story I had not heard applied to the Jewish American story. At 13, Ross (born Dov-Ber “Beryl” Rasofsky) witnessed his father’s murder and his mother’s breakdown. His siblings were sent to live in an orphanage. Ross began working for Al Capone in hopes of raising enough money to reunite his family. Already a street fighter, Ross left Capone and turned to boxing, entering the ring to “My Yiddisha Mama.” Although he was the first Golden Glover to go on to win a professional championship, his goal was never boxing fame, but rather “to keep going until I could put away enough money to bring the kids out of the orphanage and support them until they could support themselves.”

Ross boxed in the era of the Jewish fighter, following the likes of Jackie Fields, Mushy Callahan and Benny Leonard. Matches became mirrors of the immigrant street struggle — Jews cheering on Ross, Irish rooting on Jimmy McLarnin and Italians supporting their hero, Tony Canzoneri; the boxing ring, a cleaned-up version of the streets, echoed their fight for space in America.

But it was Ross’ life after the ring that makes his story heroic. A recipient of the Silver Star for his actions at Guadalcanal, he became addicted to the morphine prescribed for his massive wounds. He was the first celebrity to go public with his battle and eventual recovery from addiction, using his struggle to help others.

Baltimore Jewish Times Book Review of "I Shudder: And Other Reactions to Life, Death, and New Jersey".Comments (0)

I Shudder: And Other Reactions to Life, Death, and New Jersey

Paul Rudnick
Harper Collins 2009, $23.99, 318 pages (hardcover)

In his latest book, Paul Rudnick, one of America’s preeminent humorists, exemplifies the kind of wit he has come to describe as “gay banter.” It is ironic, self-deprecating with undeniable swagger, devastatingly funny and poignantly effective.

“I Shudder” is a collection of essays and stories that deal with everything, from his childhood in Piscataway, N.J. and the death of his father to the brazenly funny sketches of his Broadway cohorts.

Mr. Rudnick utilizes Elyot Vionnet, Manhattan “fashion fascist,” protagonist of several stories, to deliver biting social commentaries. At once sunny and stabbing, he openly describes the gay community’s reaction to AIDs, channeling Vionnet, who knows what is right, what is wrong and what should be better in New York, the international “capital of absurdity.” Vionnet is a character that ensures that Mr. Rudnick’s message is heard.

Mr. Rudnick shines in the personal essay, “The Sisters,” an account of a visit by his mother and her two sisters to his Charles Street apartment in the West Village. He hears them complaining as they climb the many stairs to his top-floor flat. “Are there bugs?” they want to know. He can’t afford them, he tells them. “Is there a bathroom?” his Aunt Lil wants to know. He uses a bucket in the hall, he tells them. Personal and humorous, the amusing anecdotes detail the clash between values of the middle class and the counterculture.

This thematic friction runs through the whole text — whether it be the Bohemianism of the Village or the provincial attitude of New Jersey.

Mr. Rudnick’s favored topic, sexual orientation, is notably accentuated during a discussion of the problematic male kiss in the film “In and Out,” used to underscore the early medical reaction to AIDS.