Roommates: My Grandfather's Story [Mass Market Paperback]

Max Apple (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1995

From the author of The Oranging of America comes this inspiring true story about an American family. Rocky takes over a family, at the age of 103, and shows them how to survive.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The saga of an ambitious, immigrant Lithuanian Jewish family in Michigan and the exceptional bond between baker grandfather Rocky and his grandson, the author, who replaced a dead son in the old man's affections, is recounted here by Apple ( Free Agents ). This focuses on the choleric but lovable Rocky and his guidance of his grandson into manhood, including their sharing quarters during the author's graduate studies at the University of Michigan. Their loving though often stormy relationship was seriously tried only by Rocky's dislike of Debby, the woman Apple married, who ultimately won him over by bearing two great-grandchildren. During Debby's long, terminal illness, Rocky, at age 103, "bounced back into action . . . too busy to die," caring for the author's children and the household just three years before his own death. Film rights to Disney; Reader's Digest Condensed Book selection.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

YA-A vivid account of a life fully lived through four generations. Rocky Goodstein, who lived to the age of 106, was remarkable not only for his longevity, but also for his vigor and capabilities. He accompanied his grandson to college at the age of 93, and subsequently had a great effect on the younger man's courtship. At the age of 103, he took over the care of two motherless great-grandchildren. The flaws, strains, strengths, and attachments of a lifetime are amusingly and clearly presented.
Frances Reiher, King's Park Library, Burke, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (July 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446602000
• ISBN-13: 978-0446602006
• Product Dimensions: 4.1 x 0.8 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #319,265 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #10 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Medical

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic and emotional!, June 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Roommates: My Grandfather's Story (Mass Market Paperback)

I could not put in down, it held my attention. One of the best books I have ever read! It would have wonderful to have a relationship with my Grandfather like that. The Great-Grand Children will never forget him.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A moving story about a boy, his grandad, & their differences, June 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Roommates: My Grandfather's Story (Mass Market Paperback)

I first encountered this book in shortened, abriged form, within an old Reader's Digest. I bought the book and found it a moving, touching, stirring, amusing, funny, and close-to-home tale. I used a cutting of it's story in prose interp competitions. Because of Max Appple's genius, needless to say, I won many awards.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A TOUCHING TRIBUTE AND A SPLENDID STORY, April 2, 2004

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Roommates: My Grandfather's Story (Mass Market Paperback)

Here's a true story that'll make you laugh, cry, and rejoice that you're alive. Today, when dysfunctional families threaten to be the norm, this family functions solidly together despite disagreements and recriminations. Love doesn't conquer all, but it's the glue that holds life together just when it's falling apart.

Herman (Rocky) Goldstein is an aged Jewish baker, a tough, scrappy, comic curmudgeon who shares a garage apartment with his grandson, Max. After the death of Max's father, Max takes the 93-year-old grandfather to graduate school with him.

When Max meets Debby, an attractive 60s radical, Rocky does everything to break up the romance. After meeting Rocky in the off-campus apartment the two men share, Debby remarks, "Even if he's paying half the rent, you're getting a bad deal."

Max and Debby do marry (a ceremony that Rocky refuses to attend). They have two children and Debby contracts a fatal disease. Just as Max begins to crumble, his grandfather, now 103 years of age, arrives to love the family and show them how to survive.

Seldom has a more touching tribute been written. "Roommates" is an absolutely splendid story.