One year, at the intense and highly competitive quiz night at the conference for the Association for 91传媒 Studies (we academic types really know how to party), I wrote the wrong answer to the literary softball question: 鈥淲ho wrote 鈥楾o be a Jew in the 20th Century鈥�?鈥� The answer was Muriel Rukeyser. (My office is now next door to a Rukeyser expert, and I鈥檒l never forget it!). The quizmaster, a fellow literary scholar, castigated me. How could I call myself a scholar of 91传媒 American writing and not know who wrote the poem?
The problem was this: I never read poetry.
A couple of months ago, I was asked to review a book in verse and found myself about to say no. Since studying the standard Chaucer/Shakespeare/Donne/Herbert/Marvell/Milton in university, I have picked up exactly one book of verse: Rupi Kaur鈥檚 鈥淢ilk and Honey.鈥� I have in my head the idea that I just don鈥檛 鈥済et鈥� poetry like I don鈥檛 鈥済et鈥� cetology (which put me off reading 鈥淢oby Dick鈥� for many years, but, alas, that鈥檚 another story).
But wow, did I love Michael Weingrad鈥檚 鈥淓ugene Nadelman: A Tale of the 1980s in Verse.鈥� It is hilarious. If, unlike me, you鈥檙e a big fan of poetry, come to it for the form: Weingrad assiduously applies Alexander Pushkin鈥檚 iambic tetrameter and rhyme scheme of AbAbCCddEffEgg throughout the book. According to the book鈥檚 narrator, who, like Pushkin鈥檚 narrator in 鈥淓ugene Onegin,鈥� is far more knowing than the protagonist and interrupts the story regularly, he is not the first to make such an attempt. He cites Indian author Vikram Seth (鈥淭he Golden Gate,鈥� 1986) and Israeli author Maya Arad (鈥淎nother Place, A Foreign City,鈥� 2003) as those who have successfully employed Pushkin鈥檚 rhyme scheme in their novels, admitting, 鈥渙thers have used Alexander/Sergeivich Pushkin鈥檚 elegant/Design with more accomplishment.鈥� Nonetheless, the author/narrator of 鈥淓ugene Nadelman鈥� has one advantage over his literary peers: He is more religious about Pushkin鈥檚 鈥渞egular iambic trot.鈥� As the lines above attest, he is religious about them even when they result in abrupt line endings (鈥渆legant鈥�), making the book rather a challenge to read aloud (though maybe not for the more poetically inclined). But that鈥檚 only one of the ways the poetry is playful. Expect the narrator to break the fourth wall, sneak in an ode to his brother, and provide readers with a 鈥渄o-it-yourself sonnet鈥� (he gives you prompts).
If, like me, you appreciate funny 91传媒 stories and nostalgia for the 鈥�80s, when the country was divided less on blue and red than Beta or VHS, Casey Kasem鈥檚 voice reigned supreme, and Saturday morning cartoons were the shul of a generation, do do do come to this book for the content! Very loosely following the plot of Pushkin鈥檚 鈥淓ugene Onegin鈥濃�攖here鈥檚 a girl, there鈥檚 a duel, there鈥檚 a breakup鈥斺�淓ugene Nadelman鈥� showcases a hero who is a super-nerdy Dungeons & Dragons and Castle Wolfenstein-loving kid who, during a game of Spin the Bottle at a cousin鈥檚 bar mitzvah, meets the girl of his dreams. To show off his prowess and impress said girl, he enters a duel (in D&D, obviously鈥攚e are treated to a long passage within the game). The duel is with one of his BFFs, and it ruins their friendship. Then he鈥檚 off to sleepaway camp, apart from his girlfriend, who warns: 鈥淵ou鈥檇 hate it, Gene. The food is crappy./The other kids are kind of JAP-y.鈥� Under the watchful eye of madrichim, eating at the chadar ochel, playing Holocaust games (鈥淎t one point counselors are enlisted/To dramatize the 91传媒 plight/And chase them through the woods at night鈥�), Eugene makes a foolish decision. As to what happens as a result, you鈥檒l have to read the book to find out.
Weingrad is a true talent, and this book is a joy. I ate up the reflections on 91传媒 life, adolescent angst and fickleness, and the vivid depictions of Philadelphia and summer camp. I found the insertions of Hebrew and Yiddish words and phrases clever and unintrusive, and the snide remarks from the future (鈥淛ust wait until the internet,鈥� he says of/to the teenagers discovering the curtained-off section at the back of the video store) in perfect proportion to the 鈥�80s narrative. It鈥檚 possible Weingrad has converted me into a lover of verse!
Karen Skinazi, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Literature and Culture and the director of Liberal Arts at the University of Bristol (UK) and the author of 鈥淲omen of Valor: Orthodox 91传媒 Troll Fighters, Crime Writers, and Rock Stars in Contemporary Literature and Culture.鈥�
