Suprisingly addicting book. Hamill transports you to a place and time when life was simple AND more complicated. A teen develops an unlikely friendship with a rabbi who is new to the States. Set in the forties, the two discover new worlds together and realize the real meaning of friendship.

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11 yr old Michael Devlin (100% Irish), living in a post-war tenement with his widowed mother, beriends Rabbi Hirsch in 1940's Brooklyn. After witnessing a hate-crime, Michael is terrorized by The Falcons ~ a gang of youths doling out anti-Semitism and other harrassment. Finally, Michael finds he has to evoke the spirit of the golem to help him and his neighborhood.

Pete Hamill brings post-war Brooklyn tangibly to the page. He weaves a heartrending tale of human vulnerability and myth that I enjoyed and will look forward to reading more of his work.

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I enjoyed the writing - the history and the sense of wonder. The author takes you there.

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Excellent story - fantasy and fiction - good and evil.

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A beautiful coming of age story about a young Irish-American Catholic boy who befriends a Rabbi, and teaches him about baseball, during the time Of the Dodgers in Brooklyn when Jackie Robinson was first accepted to the team. It is a story of learning, values, tolerance, & love.

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Fantastic book; one of my absolute favorites. I've probably bought more than five as gifts for friends. That's where this will go as well.

Received very quickly and in excellent condition. Much appreciated.

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Excellent, well written, with very interesting characters and story line. Explains various aspects of Orthodox & Kabbalah teachings. There is mystery, lots of emotion and even a story within the story of Jackie Robinson coming to the major leagues!
Both men and women will enjoy this book.

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Hamill's writing is wonderfully engaging. The lead character, young Michael Devlin learns many lessons about grace found in diversity of cultures, how perceived outsiders can become your strongest allies. There is certainly pain in his lessons, but much to be learned and loved in this tale.

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I loved it... and already passed it on to a friend. I am a native New Yorker and enjoy stories about "my" city. It helped that I had recently read two of this author's memoirs... gave me some background as to where this "fable" was pulling from his life and where he veered off into the fiction part.
This confluence of the various cultures in Brooklyn post WWII was fascinating to me.
I love his writing.

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Set in a working-class Brooklyn neighborhood in 1947, this tale revolves around an 11-year-old Irish Catholic boy named Michael Devlin and Rabbi Judah Hirsch, a refugee from Prague. For Michael, the rabbi's stories of ancient magic and wisdom captivate his imagination and transport him to times and places even his beloved comic book heroes have never visited. For the rabbi, Michael's patient instruction on the language of baseball and American culture opens up an equally strange world.

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