Customer Reviews

Fear and Yoga in New Jersey

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

New Jersey has a lot going for it--beautiful beaches and farms, easy access to New York City and Philadelphia, great shopping malls, pro football, casinos, and Princeton University. New Jersey is the home state of Jerry Lewis; Lauryn Hill; Frank Sinatra; Meryl Streep; Bruce Springsteen; my niece, Sophie and my nephew, Johnny Elvis. Author Debra Galant has written two highly entertaining novels about life in the Garden State: Rattled; and Fear and Yoga in New Jersey. (I haven't read Rattled yet, but I plan to check it out soon.)

Fear and Yoga in New Jersey is about a frazzled yoga instructor who is going through a rough patch. Her husband's job is outsourced to the Phillipines, her son wants to become a Chassid (not that there's anything wrong with that), and her parents flee to her already chaotic home to avoid a Florida hurricane.

Debra Galant is often compared to Florida satirist Carl Hiaasen. Although I could never get through any of Hiaasen's book, I devoured Galant's Fear and Yoga in New Jersey in just one day. To me, Galant is more like an American Fay Weldon (Life and Loves of a She-Devil), or a female Tom Perrotta (Little Children).

If you would like to read more books that take place in New Jersey (and who wouldn't?), check out these titles:

*Goodbye, Columbus by Philip Roth
*Joe College by Tom Perrotta
*Looking for Bobowicz: A Hoboken Chicken Story by Daniel and Jill Pinkwater

This is a novel that most readers will find irrestible for the wry wit with which it portrays a dysfunctional family as its individual members try to make sense of a world that puts them through a bizarre week in their lives.

Galant has very craftily woven a shaggy dog story - or rather five shaggy dog character arcs, one for each principal character - that engender just the right type of laughs, and criss-cross each other nimbly, as in the best of farces. The whole endeavor is very "Seinfeld"-ian, especially in that it's about NOTHING and it works.

In many ways it's an even a stronger novel than her previously published "Rattled," though it's in similar voice...and that voice is human, sardonic, and delightfully funny.

I came across Debra Galant's book "Fear & Yoga in New Jersey" completely by accident. I started reading it in the store and couldn't put it down. I finally made it to the register and hurried home to finish it. I immediately went online after I was finished reading it and got her other two books, "Cars from a Marriage" and "Rattled." I just wish there were a hundred more. She's an excellent writer. Her books are witty and very grown-up in a way that reflects how grown-ups really are with all their faults and virtues. I planned my days around when I could get back to these books. Many things were neglected just so I could read a few more pages. I am looking forward to her next novel. Hopefully it will be soon!

Easy and fast read. Funny. I didn't appreciate the Jewish stereotypes even coming from a MOT. The main character definitely had issues but this was a cute novel.

A modern, upbeat, story with twists that will keep you interested. Easy to enjoy! The main character has a little bit of everyone you know!

This is a funny book and a good read! I read it in about a day, simply because I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next. The vegetarian, Unitarian, Prius-driving, pantry-moth breeding Gettleman-Summers will have you turning the pages faster than you can say "Tubular Bells."

I picked this book up at the library because of the title and I'm glad I did. Debra Galant's intimate look into the lives of a not-so-ordinary NJ family is both funny and poignant, and I found myself groaning out loud as each calamity struck these well-meaning individuals.

I was particularly fond of Michael, the stereotypically boring meteorologist husband. Poor Michael. It seems that he can't do anything right, and certainly doesn't deserve the fate that befalls him.

Galant's visuals are right on the money and more than just reading about these characters, I was living their agonies with them. As I read, I could see this book as a movie. Nothing is left to the imagination.

I look forward to reading more from this author.