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The Rabbi of Swat
A re-imagining of the baseball season of 1927 -- the year Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs and led the Yankees to the American League pennant. The hero, Morrie Ginsberg, pitches for the New York Giants and struggles with his team to win the National League pennant and face the Yankees in the World Series. While the novel follows Ginsberg's exploits, Babe Ruth is also a narrative voice, commenting on the action and revealing his thoughts and emotions.
Paperback
First published April 1, 1999
About the author
Peter Levine
17 books2 followersThere is more than one author with this name in GR. This is Peter^^Levine, author of books on baseball.
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February 21, 2009
Peter Levine accomplishes the unlikely in this clever novel of a-historical fiction. I suppose The Rabbi of Swat could be called “alternate history” in that it deftly handles the cultural aspects of the era and interweaves the characters of actual historical figures into the plot, but the results don’t match those in the Baseball Encyclopedia. Of course, intentionally changing certain results while remaining true to baseball history allows for a certain tension while we would normally know for certain what the outcome of certain games would be.
The novel takes place in 1927 and the Murderer’s Row of the New York Yankees is as formidable in the novel as it was in real life. Yet, Levine gives us a different perspective by conjuring a rivalry between the Sultan of Swat and the eponymous hero of this novel. Both men have unresolved issues with their fathers, and both men long for some kind of reconciliation. Ostensibly a baseball novel (and it is that!), the off-the-field plot revolves around parental relationships.
Perhaps, the most interesting thing about this novel is the conceit where the Babe keeps interjecting his opinions from the grave. Although this is still an arrogant and profane Babe, the voice of the Sultan of Swat surprises us with literary references and subtle inference as though he had been taking make-up courses in the afterlife. Some of the author’s finest insights come through the medium of George Herman Ruth’s ruminations and protests (as well as a few self-deprecating comments about the plot that break down the fourth wall, but don’t overdo the familiarity).
Another interesting part of the mix for this novel was the texture of Jewish immigrant life during the era juxtaposed with the very real prejudice experienced by these cultural pioneers in a strange land. Levine’s story is honest enough to mix the famous Jewish gangsters of the era in with the honest, hard-working Jews who kept at least a semblance of their faith. Readers are likely to pick up a few words of Yiddish and a Jewish custom or two if they’re not careful.
The Rabbi of Swat is a moving novel that might have a little too much schmaltz (I’ve used this words for years with the nuance of “too much emotion,” but never realized that the original meaning was “chicken fat” used for flavoring. Hence, too much schmaltz would be too much flavoring such that it actually becomes sickening.) for some, but it was just the right reading experience for me at this point in my life. Although I’m not Jewish, I’ve experienced some of the same kind of paternal angst as the characters in this novel. As a result, I resonated with the book instead of mocking it.
The novel takes place in 1927 and the Murderer’s Row of the New York Yankees is as formidable in the novel as it was in real life. Yet, Levine gives us a different perspective by conjuring a rivalry between the Sultan of Swat and the eponymous hero of this novel. Both men have unresolved issues with their fathers, and both men long for some kind of reconciliation. Ostensibly a baseball novel (and it is that!), the off-the-field plot revolves around parental relationships.
Perhaps, the most interesting thing about this novel is the conceit where the Babe keeps interjecting his opinions from the grave. Although this is still an arrogant and profane Babe, the voice of the Sultan of Swat surprises us with literary references and subtle inference as though he had been taking make-up courses in the afterlife. Some of the author’s finest insights come through the medium of George Herman Ruth’s ruminations and protests (as well as a few self-deprecating comments about the plot that break down the fourth wall, but don’t overdo the familiarity).
Another interesting part of the mix for this novel was the texture of Jewish immigrant life during the era juxtaposed with the very real prejudice experienced by these cultural pioneers in a strange land. Levine’s story is honest enough to mix the famous Jewish gangsters of the era in with the honest, hard-working Jews who kept at least a semblance of their faith. Readers are likely to pick up a few words of Yiddish and a Jewish custom or two if they’re not careful.
The Rabbi of Swat is a moving novel that might have a little too much schmaltz (I’ve used this words for years with the nuance of “too much emotion,” but never realized that the original meaning was “chicken fat” used for flavoring. Hence, too much schmaltz would be too much flavoring such that it actually becomes sickening.) for some, but it was just the right reading experience for me at this point in my life. Although I’m not Jewish, I’ve experienced some of the same kind of paternal angst as the characters in this novel. As a result, I resonated with the book instead of mocking it.
Displaying 1 of 1 review