American Goliath [Paperback]

Mr. Harvey Jacobs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 1998

The slumbering giant awakens! In 1869, well-diggers in upstate New York discovered a stone man of gigantic proportions. The "find" became an instant sensation. But was he a petrified man from the time of Genesis? A statue from antiquity?

This "Cardiff Giant" was in fact the brainchild of George Hull, scion of a wealthy cigar manufacturer. Their fantabulous story-published to great acclaim in hardcover-proves that at 128 years young Goliath still knows how to pack the house!

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Jacobs's entertaining new novel (following Beautiful Soup: A Novel for the 21st Century, Celadon, 1993) is inspired by real events. The Cardiff Giant was one of the greatest hoaxes of the previous century. Discovered in October 1869 on a farm in New York, the 10' tall, 3000-lb. statue was thought by "experts" to be the petrified remains of a prehistoric man but was shortly revealed to be the brainchild of George Hull, of Binghamton, New York, who had the Giant carved by stonemasons in Chicago. Thousands paid to look at the giant, which excited the envy even of P.T. Barnum. Jacobs juggles a large cast of both real (e.g., Tom Thumb, Cornelius Vanderbilt) and fictional characters, all of whom find their lives changed by their involvement with the Cardiff Giant. This is a very funny, rambunctiously raunchy novel that, at the same time, makes pointed comments about American attitudes during the last half of the 19th century. The relative dearth of recent humorous fiction should make this novel welcomed by most public library patrons.?Nancy Pearl, Washington Ctr. for the Book, Seattle
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

A fascinating picaresque novel, set in postCivil War America, by the underrated comic surrealist whose previous fiction includes The Egg of the Glak (1969). First things first: This is a masterpiece. It's the story, based on fact, of a hoax perpetrated in 1869 by one George Hull, black-sheep son of a Binghamton, New York, cigar-making family, who, upon hearing an overzealous preacher's assertion that the biblical ``Giants in those days'' may have existed in America, hires sculptors to construct a huge simulated human figure, buries it on his cousin's Cardiff, New York, farm, and arranges for the ``discovery'' of what will thereafter be known (and widely advertised as) ``the Cardiff Giant.'' Among those who scramble for a piece of the giant, and the action, are plutocrat Cornelius Vanderbilt, showman extraordinaire P.T. Barnum (who harbors presidential ambitions), actor Edwin Booth, scheming boxing promoters who exhibit ``Battling Mammoths,'' journalist Barnaby Race (who seeks both the truth and a good story), and a less-than- heavenly host of clergy, grifters, and dupes who display several highly amusing varieties of mass hysteria. The novel is a poker- faced paean to American enterprise, hucksterism, and criminality, energized by Jacobs's easy mastery of period detail and rhetoric (he even contrives a marvelously florid verse attributed to an impressionable poet who visits ``the giant's'' remains). And, in a spectacular magic-realist twist, Jacobs presents (in italicized interpolated fragments of dialogue) what seem to be the thoughts of the nonexistent giant--``created,'' perhaps, by George Hull's greed and by his country's hunger to believe in such marvels. P.T. Barnum sums up George Hull's nefarious accomplishment beautifully: ``What you did was a wonder and a legend for the ages. A beautiful scam and splendidly wrought.'' The same may be said of Harvey Jacobs's stunningly inventive and charming fiction--arguably this year's best novel. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (August 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312194382
• ISBN-13: 978-0312194383
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,443,938 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Giants in the Earth Provide Both Richly True and Imaginative Story, August 18, 2010

By 

David Zimmerman (Baton Rouge, LA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: American Goliath (Paperback)

It took awhile, but I finished Harvey Jacobs' 1997 novel "American Goliath", about the infamous Cardiff Giant hoax of the post-Civil War period. Was the Giant one of those who roamed the Earth, per Genesis, or an elaborate hoax? We know the answer, but Jacobs keeps the populace of the time guessing, and imaginatively. He allows the Giant a "speaking" voice to keep us up with "his thoughts" on the developing story. P.T. Barnum and General Tom Thumb play major roles. The dialogue among Barnum, Thumb and primary hoaxist George Hull crackles in a Runyanesque way. Jacobs also knows how to stage a blockbuster, particularly in a climactic Barnum-staged battle. You'll also learn a good bit about the cigar business, both its growth and demise.

I grew up in Central NY State, where most of the story was set. The familiar place names helped me enjoy the book even more. I must have seen the Giant in its final resting place at the Farmer's Museum in Cooperstown as a child, but I don't have a specific memory of it.

Five stars for fans of 19th century US history. Fans of Kevin Baker's writing (Dreamland, Paradise Alley (P.S.) will also find some parallel delights in American Goliath.

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant. The best!, June 4, 2001

By 

"academon" (Bangor, Maine) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Goliath (Paperback)

Is this giant too big for America to see ? I first read about it in an English magazine in a piece I think by Michael Moorcock or Martin Amis, who claimed Jacobs as one of America's funniest writers. Well it took the Brits to see Chandler, Faulkner, Welty and a dozen others before we did, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised. A prophet in his own land indeed! This is a superb, mordant, intelligent, clever and wonderfully funny novel which should be on every literary studies syllabus in America. I can't add much to the other reviewers -- except to join in the applause. Jacobs is a first rate writer. This is the first book I have read of his and I'm desperate for more. A great American novel, nothing less.

4.0 out of 5 stars An American Original Alright!, July 12, 2000

By 

M. Packo (Stratford, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: American Goliath (Paperback)

Sly, randy, and splendidly researched, Harvey Jacob's novel is one for the ages.I did not expect this story to be told with so much humor or such understated insight into what our country - and many of its denizens - was like circa 1869. Marvelous descriptions, amusingly deft characterizations, some startlingly intuitive depths where one would least expect them to appear. This novel does not at all suffer to compare with the magnificent RAGTIME. I was most amused and impressed by the fast, witty dialogue, particularly between Barnum and Tom Thumb - what used to be called "crackling good" dialogue during the old screwball comedy days. Other scenes reminded me of the logical nonsense of CATCH 22. In other words:a hoot and a real pleasure to read - made me want to start it all over again once I finished. Harvey Jacob's marvelous imagination and talent has provided us with a celebration of American craziness and craftiness. Very funny and something else. So read it, already!