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16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I highly recommend this book!, September 13, 2007
This review is from: Dough: A Memoir (Awp Award Series in Creative Nonfiction) (Association of Writers and Writing Programs Award for Creative Nonfiction) (Hardcover)
This is a beautifully written book. You will read about Mort Zachter's life in a Jewish family in New York with a sense of suspense: are all the secrets out? Are they all revealed? From the perspective of a child growing austere life in Zachter's family things seem pretty normal. For the aduld Zachter,.the post mortem examination of the characters and the details must be emotionally challenging.How does one live with the "what ifs" ?(like money for a private college,or mortgage?) how does one deal with conflicting ambivalent feelings towards his beloved/selfish hoarder uncle ? an uncle whose very sickness made Zacher wealthy! How do you understand all other family members who colluded in keeping the secret and living the lie? The writing style is very clear and the narrative pleasing and easy to follow.God works in mysterious ways: Would Mort ever become a writer if it wasn't for Uncle Harry? ( I think he probably would still be practicing tax law in New York...) I highly recommend this book!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
From day-old bread to the upper crust, August 13, 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
First let me say that this book is a quick and enjoyable read. For me it hits very close to home--not for the surprise inheritance of millions (one can only wish) but rather for the culture, attitudes, and locale depicted so colorfully, which almost mirror my family's own immigrant experience. The author's uncles ran a bakery on Manhattan's Lower East Side, well before gentrification set in and brought "the buzz" to what was once the capital of tenement life in the US. Other reviewers have commented on the author's tactic of jumping around through time periods, back and forth, with each chapter. I actually found that quite engaging. While laying out the story thread and character development in the early chapters, Zachter tells stories that ring in my memory as clear as a bell. My father, who was born and raised on the Lower East Side into a very poor immigrant family, always told the story of the big snowstorm of 1947 that paralyzed New York City. He recalled carrying my older brother, then age 3, almost four miles on his shoulders from the subway stop to his new G.I. Bill home in the "suburbs" of Queens because the buses weren't running. The way Zachter tells the story of that snowstorm and that day in the life of his family really brings it to life for me, having heard my father's own experiences in that storm for years. Thanks for that, Mort! Also, my father used to tell us that his family was so poor, his mother used to give him and my uncle a few nickels and pennies for the roundtrip subway ride to the bread factory, where they'd use the rest of the coins to buy not day-old bread but rather DAYS-old bread for their family of 8. The Zachter bakery, which sold day-old bread delivered from larger, commercial bakeries, was too "upper crusty" for my father's family. Living on Orchard Street, between Stanton and Rivington, my father and uncle could have just walked less than a mile each way to pick up day-old bread--if the family could have afforded it. Stories like these, which hit so close to home, drew me into this book. I'm not sure that people from other backgrounds would appreciate the characters' quirkiness as much as I did. Then again, maybe they'd like it even more!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Chewy Food for Thought, August 4, 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Mort Zachter's story starts with bread and ends with money, as per his wife's initial book title suggestion, and indeed, the title word refers to both intertwined objects of his past. His two uncles ran the Ninth Street Bakery, where they sold bread, cakes, and cookies that were made elsewhere. His portrait of their workaholic ways is juxtaposed with the discovery that they were worth millions, literally. When Zachter learns this, one uncle has passed away and one is suffering from dementia. He has put himself through law school, borrowed money to adopt his children, and is uncertain what to make of this abundance of wealth. In alternating chapters, Zachter explores the rich life of his ancestors, running their bakery through all manner of mayhem and chaos that is life in New York City. Ultimately, it's rather a sad portrait he paints, of two extremely wealthy men who had little fun or even socializing in their lives. But there is something missing to Dough, despite Zachter's heartfelt explorations. There are too many questions raised and left unanswered. Zachter doesn't seem to truly confront his parents, who are lucid and knew full well about the riches his uncles had acquired. We never truly learn where all that money came from. Zachter's historical musings and family recollections are the highlights of this book. Yes, there is the money, but while we can only imagine it has left him with free time and no worries in the financial realm, the image of fruitcake boxes full of useless bills crumbling is the one that lingers. His lack of resolution about the money - unable to confront his uncles, and perhaps unwilling to confront his parents - makes the book end on a bit of a flat note. Regardless, it's worth reading, especially if you live in, have lived in, or simply love New York.
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