Club Revelation

by Allan Appel

Appel's hilarious novel follows three interfaith Jewish/Christian couples who unwittingly rent the ground floor of their brownstone to a charming Southern evangelist. Serving his own blend of Christian cuisine, he opens a restaurant in the space, hoping to convert the Jews of the Upper West Side. His scheme destroys the harmony of the building when one of his six landlords finds comfort in the preacher's conversion-by-gastronomy methods. Appel's mix of comedy and theology conjoin effortlessly in an entertaining, fast, and funny story which reevaluates our meanings of faith and marriage in twenty-first century America. Allen Appel is a novelist and playwright whose books include The Rabbi of Casino Boulevard and the anthology A Pocket A Handy Guide to the End of the World . His work has appeared in The National Jewish Monthly and The Progressive . He lives in New York City. Also Available by Allan High Holiday Sutra TP $13.95, 1-56689-065-9 • CUSA

335 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2001

Reviews

[Robert Wechsler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written, enjoyable novel about three couples (Jewish men, Gentile women) who share a townhouse on the Upper West Side and rent the first-floor restaurant to a missionary looking to attract Jews to Christianity by feeding them food and sermons. A silly idea, and silly characters, but not a particularly silly novel, done pretty straight. Fortunately, Appel̕s a good writer, or it would have been a dumb sitcom.

[Debby · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was incredibly boring and devoid of the humor that I appreciated in Wake Up Sir. The plot is predicatable which seems like an impossibility given the basic elements of the story and continues to beat you over the head with the same basic dialog over and over. It just didn't keep my attention.