Fear and Yoga in New Jersey [Hardcover]

Debra Galant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 4, 2008

Nina Gettleman-Summer, a New Jersey yoga teacher, should be calmly guiding her high powered students through their savasanas and their chakras. Instead she is worried about...everything: her new meditation fountain overflowed causing one of her more litigious students to slip and fall; her husband Michael’s job was outsourced to the Phillipines; and a hurricane is bearing down on her parents home in Florida. The last thing Nina needs is her suspicious mother around, wailing about the weather and asking questions about Michael’s job. To complicate matters, her teenage son Adam is showing an interest in having a Bar Mitzvah—even though Nina, never a fan of her Jewish heritage, signed the family up at the local Unitarian Church. The Gettleman-Summers are poised for an awakening which, when it arrives, is deftly portrayed in Galant’s classic screwball style.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Galant follows up her colorful debut, Rattled, with another funny suburban family satire. Nina Gettleman's new yoga studio on the swank side of an old, unnamed Essex County town floods when her poorly placed waiting-room chakra-meditation fountain leaks. One of Nina's students threatens to sue, and she's unable to get solace from her husband, Michael, who has been laid off from his job as a meteorologist at Newark Airport. Meanwhile, puberty-age son Adam has decided he's tired of being a lapsed Jew and wants to have a platinum bar mitzvah. The straw that breaks the familial camel's back is the arrival of Nina's hypercritical mother and elderly father, who take refuge in the family's home to escape a Florida hurricane. And then Michael gets into some serious trouble with the law. Galant has a lock on upper-middle–class suburban skewerings and makes ribald fun of overbearing Jewish mothers and terrorism crackdowns gone awry. But loose ends, an overextended midsection, a rushed ending and a protagonist who never really evolves make this sophomore effort fall short of enlightenment. (Mar.)
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About the Author

Former “Jersey” columnist for The New York Times, I’m now editor-in-chief of the Baristanet.com, a local community blog based in northern New Jersey that gets 10,000 visits daily.

My new book, “Cars from a Marriage,“ comes out April 27.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition (March 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312367252
• ISBN-13: 978-0312367251
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,433,396 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Former "Jersey" columnist for The New York Times, I'm now editor-in-chief of the Baristanet.com, a local community blog based in northern New Jersey that gets 10,000 visits daily.

My new book, "Cars from a Marriage," comes out April 27.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mired in the 60s, December 3, 2008

By 

Barbara "horatio" (Jersey City, NJ, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fear and Yoga in New Jersey (Hardcover)

I grew up in New Jersey and, although I don't live in the there anymore, I remember it well. For me the book tried, in a stale and exaggerated way, to hit the same old targets of over-the-top bat (bar) mitzvahs (self-hating Jew, anyone?), loud and comical Jewish family members, and the same tired and old I May Have Enough Money to Live Here But I Am Not Of Here writing. I will say--worth the second star---that the writer makes everyone ridiculous, too. But the vision of the protagonist, holding a wan bowl of ambrosia at the Unitarian dinner, just doesn't have the same stereotypic sting as the Oy Oy Oy other situations and characters. I understand that it's a satire, but the main character is so incredibly unsympathetic and clueless that any attempts at subtlety, empathy, or understanding are completely squashed.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not about Yoga, a real shallow downer,absolutlely no wisdom here, August 24, 2011

By 

bera "book hound" (california) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fear and Yoga in New Jersey (Paperback)

This book only touches very superficially on yoga, read the protagonist is a yoga teacher - but it seems that both the main character and the author know nothing about the philosophy or lifestyle. The book is really about a new jersey housewife who has rebelled her jewish roots and has replaced her family's faith of origin with a bunch of superficial new age beliefs. The sad thing is that the author seems to mock yoga and feng shui but seems herself to know nothing of the subjects she is trying to make fun of. Also, her characters are themselves shallow and irritating so that as a reader i found it very difficult to have any sympathy for them. The plot is full of silly disasters, the snowball into more silly disasters. The characters try to solve these silly disasters with harebrained solutions that sadly aren't even humorous, they are simply neurotic. This is a truly depressing read and not worth the reader's time let alone spending money on. i would give it half a star if i could.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fast paced and fun from start to finish -- don't meditate on it - buy it, June 25, 2008

By 

Kim D. (Sunny Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fear and Yoga in New Jersey (Hardcover)

The title grabbed me and then I couldn't put the book down. I read it in 24 hours annoyed whenever I HAD to stop to feed the kids, or walk the dog, or lie to the husband about some money thing.

Great insight into all the characters, male and female, young and old. Lots of good quirky stuff too. I'm sending my husband to Newark Airport with a camera ASAP! I loved it!