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Tell Me How This Ends Well
An ambitious, gripping, darkly funny family drama about the reckoning of three adult siblings with their profoundly flawed parents, set during Passover in a near-future America rife with anti-Semitism and terror, from an award-winning short-story writer
403 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 4, 2017
59 people are currently reading
2230 people want to read
About the author
David Samuel Levinson
8 books67 followersI’ve published two acclaimed novels, Tell Me How This Ends Well and Antonia Lively Breaks the Silence, and a collection of stories, Most of Us Are Here Against Our Will, received numerous fellowships from Yaddo, Jentel, Ledig House, Virginia Center for the Arts, the Santa Fe Arts Institute, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and Emory University, where I was a Fiction Fellow (2013–2015). I was the Emerging Writer Lecturer at Gettysburg College (2008–2009) and a writer-in-residence at Texas A&M (2012–2013). My work has appeared in Hobart, Prairie Schooner, West Branch, StorySouth, The Brooklyn Review, and more.
I was first runner-up in The Flannery O’Connor Story Prize and placed third in The Atlantic Monthly’s fiction competition for my story "Most of Us Are Here Against Our Will," selected by Mary Gaitskill. In 2020, I founded The Big Texas Author Talk, a virtual lecture series highlighting Texas writers. In 2024, I received the Fulbright-Mach Award from Fulbright Austria and am currently on a Fulbright in Vienna, researching a novel during the 2024–2025 academic year.
I was first runner-up in The Flannery O’Connor Story Prize and placed third in The Atlantic Monthly’s fiction competition for my story "Most of Us Are Here Against Our Will," selected by Mary Gaitskill. In 2020, I founded The Big Texas Author Talk, a virtual lecture series highlighting Texas writers. In 2024, I received the Fulbright-Mach Award from Fulbright Austria and am currently on a Fulbright in Vienna, researching a novel during the 2024–2025 academic year.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 165 reviews
November 16, 2016
I'm a sucker for a novel about family dysfunction, but a novel about dysfunction that takes place during the Jewish holidays? Sign me up!
It's 2022 and while there isn't quite dystopia, the world is in upheaval: Israel has been dissolved, and all Israeli citizens have been dispersed across the world. And to make matters worse, the U.S. is roiled by anti-Semitism, with random attacks and drive-by shootings harming Jews across the country.
In the midst of this maelstrom, the Jacobson family is gathering to celebrate Passover at the home of oldest son Mo, an actor who was best known for a reality show which featured his wife and five sons, until criticism and threats from anti-Jewish viewers led to the show's demise.
Roz, the family matriarch, is dying, and her three children recognize this will probably be their last holiday as a family. Of course, that means they must spend time with their father, Julian, whose default position has always been to be emotionally and verbally abusive to his wife and children. Daughter Edith (aka Thistle), unfairly accused of sexually harassing a student in one of her classes at Emory University, has always tried to play peacemaker between her siblings and her father. Youngest son Jacob, who fled first across the country and then across the world to get away from his father, has returned after a number of years, bringing Dietrich, his German boyfriend.
"...[Jacob] had thought he'd come to terms with and healed from the worst of his dad's treachery, all those years of unwarranted hostility, by finding Diet and moving to Berlin. Unfortunately, he'd begun to realize that he'd unwittingly managed to smuggle the tyranny of his dad in through customs with him. Pieces of him, at least, and the worst pieces at that."
Jacob and Mo have hatched a plan to make their mother's last days more enjoyable, but they need Edith's buy-in. Edith wants to hate her father for his years of passive-aggressive behavior, but on the flip side, he always treated her as if she was his favorite. But the more she thinks about it, and the more she remembers, she realizes her father might not have been the prince she once thought. However, the siblings are thrown by the fact that after all these years, he suddenly dotes on their mother more, and their mother actually seems happy. Can this be, or are they all waiting for the next shoe to drop?
Tell Me How This Ends Well is a well-written, thought-provoking book which often seems as if it's not sure what it is supposed to be. At times it's a chronicle of severe family and personal dysfunction, as not one of these characters isn't significantly flawed. Other times it tries to provide social commentary on anti-Semitism and the return of worldwide hatred of Jews, and still other times, the book tries to be a wacky crime caper.
I think the book succeeds best when it focuses on the Jacobsons themselves. For the most part, these characters aren't really likable—Jacob is the most sympathetic, and even he is a bit of a mess. But David Samuel Levinson doesn't provide any shading for Julian's character, so every time he appears in the narrative, it made me bristle to the point that I couldn't stand reading those pages. I realize that was supposed to make him unsympathetic, but he was virtually disgusting, and I kept waiting to understand the reasons.
I didn't believe that the anti-Semitism piece always worked well. It was an interesting plot thread, but in places it became almost outlandish. But the kicker was that in the world Levinson created, apparently everyone can tell who is Jewish simply by looking at them, and seeing a Jewish person made most non-Jews want to throw racial epithets, if not incite violence.
As the holidays draw closer, Tell Me How This Ends Well is an interesting exploration of a family that both loves and dislikes each other. At times the parts of the family are greater than the sum, but the Jacobsons are can't-look-but-can't-look-away fascinating, and if nothing else, they'll make you realize your own family isn't so bad.
NetGalley and Crown Publishing provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!
See all of my reviews at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo....
It's 2022 and while there isn't quite dystopia, the world is in upheaval: Israel has been dissolved, and all Israeli citizens have been dispersed across the world. And to make matters worse, the U.S. is roiled by anti-Semitism, with random attacks and drive-by shootings harming Jews across the country.
In the midst of this maelstrom, the Jacobson family is gathering to celebrate Passover at the home of oldest son Mo, an actor who was best known for a reality show which featured his wife and five sons, until criticism and threats from anti-Jewish viewers led to the show's demise.
Roz, the family matriarch, is dying, and her three children recognize this will probably be their last holiday as a family. Of course, that means they must spend time with their father, Julian, whose default position has always been to be emotionally and verbally abusive to his wife and children. Daughter Edith (aka Thistle), unfairly accused of sexually harassing a student in one of her classes at Emory University, has always tried to play peacemaker between her siblings and her father. Youngest son Jacob, who fled first across the country and then across the world to get away from his father, has returned after a number of years, bringing Dietrich, his German boyfriend.
"...[Jacob] had thought he'd come to terms with and healed from the worst of his dad's treachery, all those years of unwarranted hostility, by finding Diet and moving to Berlin. Unfortunately, he'd begun to realize that he'd unwittingly managed to smuggle the tyranny of his dad in through customs with him. Pieces of him, at least, and the worst pieces at that."
Jacob and Mo have hatched a plan to make their mother's last days more enjoyable, but they need Edith's buy-in. Edith wants to hate her father for his years of passive-aggressive behavior, but on the flip side, he always treated her as if she was his favorite. But the more she thinks about it, and the more she remembers, she realizes her father might not have been the prince she once thought. However, the siblings are thrown by the fact that after all these years, he suddenly dotes on their mother more, and their mother actually seems happy. Can this be, or are they all waiting for the next shoe to drop?
Tell Me How This Ends Well is a well-written, thought-provoking book which often seems as if it's not sure what it is supposed to be. At times it's a chronicle of severe family and personal dysfunction, as not one of these characters isn't significantly flawed. Other times it tries to provide social commentary on anti-Semitism and the return of worldwide hatred of Jews, and still other times, the book tries to be a wacky crime caper.
I think the book succeeds best when it focuses on the Jacobsons themselves. For the most part, these characters aren't really likable—Jacob is the most sympathetic, and even he is a bit of a mess. But David Samuel Levinson doesn't provide any shading for Julian's character, so every time he appears in the narrative, it made me bristle to the point that I couldn't stand reading those pages. I realize that was supposed to make him unsympathetic, but he was virtually disgusting, and I kept waiting to understand the reasons.
I didn't believe that the anti-Semitism piece always worked well. It was an interesting plot thread, but in places it became almost outlandish. But the kicker was that in the world Levinson created, apparently everyone can tell who is Jewish simply by looking at them, and seeing a Jewish person made most non-Jews want to throw racial epithets, if not incite violence.
As the holidays draw closer, Tell Me How This Ends Well is an interesting exploration of a family that both loves and dislikes each other. At times the parts of the family are greater than the sum, but the Jacobsons are can't-look-but-can't-look-away fascinating, and if nothing else, they'll make you realize your own family isn't so bad.
NetGalley and Crown Publishing provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!
See all of my reviews at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo....
December 7, 2016
Maybe it's because it's December--Chanukah around the corner, my 38th wedding anniversary this month, the ten day get-a-way-from the mad Christmas season soon....
but I had to re-read the the first 7% of this book: START OVER...sit upright in a chair with a pen and paper taking notes the second time around to find my heart to stay invested in reading this novel.
I'm Jewish.... I didn't want to give up on this book - yet I really felt lost BECAUSE MY MIND KEPT DRIFTING elsewhere.... ( worries ...who knows?)
I apologize to the author!
However ... sitting in a chair reading David Samuel Levinson's book for a few hours did the trick.... I BECAME AUTHENTICALLY interested!!!! Whew!!! I was able to slouch-read in a comfy soft chair for the rest of the book.
A few basic facts: The 'core' JACOBSON FAMILY
Julian: The abusive 'mean-machine' father -- He said egregious things and physical affection wasn't in his DNA. Julian put his wife's efforts down surrounding most holy days. Like everything else, Julian, let her know where she faltered---from blessing the candles to her rudimentary Hebrew.
Roz: The wife and Mother. She had converted to Judaism...tried to be a good Jewish wife and mother---Torah study three nights a week.... attended services at the synagogue with a fervent dedication and really got into Shabbat - the rituals. Roz never felt Jewish enough for Julian. And now....she is dying. The Passover dinner with their three adult kids and their significant others could be Roz's last family gathering before she dies.
Moses: (Mo) is the oldest son-Married, 5 kids...Actor. His TV reality show has been cancelled.... which doesn't help with his vanity that he never out grew.
The Passover dinner is scheduled to be at Mo's house.
Edith: ( Thistle), Middle child...'THE FEMALE PEACEMAKER'... perhaps dad's favorite while growing up. She teaches at Ivy league, Emory university. She faces a challenging problem of being accused of sexually harassing a student... she didn't ... but it's still a pain in the ass to be accused.
Jacob: The BABY! ( my personal favorite -- I was the 'baby' in my family too--I relate to subtle ways he thinks). Jay has a German boyfriend named Dietrich (Diet), who came from Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany...."the original breadbasket of anti-semitism".
Jacob wonders if self consciously he is testing the limits with his parents by bringing his German boyfriend home for a Jewish Passover dinner. Don't all 'baby's test their parents subconsciously, for their families acceptance and of love?
Jacob had an odd calming effect on his mother, Roz. I loved that...basked in the feeling for my own selfish reasons: my younger daughter does that for me....and I hope I was that for my mother the last few years before she died.
The three siblings - each with their own personal troubles and squabbles -- have joined forces together with an outrageous scheme ( Edith has reservations), but their target is Julian. Roz learns of her kids plan from Dietrich. Roz also learned that her kids had returned to L.A. not really for a happy family Passover celebration...but to expedite their felonious acts.
....There was a Seder. ( in case you were wondering) ......
....The year is 2022..... is Israeli refugees are in America- as all over the world now
....Too many attacks on synagogues, and suicide bombings, or school buses with children bombing attacks. Jews were in the news in the United States and around the world. Anti-Semitism was high. Jews had become agnostics and atheists. Neo-Nazi skinheads were in the news.
Julian ...a born Jew... was the worse kind of Jew. I thought about stories my own mother told me-- her name was Roz too -- about her father and her family growing up.
My mom was the 10th child. She grew up in Seattle Washington. They kept a Kosher house.... and my mom says her mother cooked and cleaned to DEATH. Her dad was a Rabbi -- and ( my mother's words) > "a son of a bitch of a father at home".
I ended up liking this book a lot. Tens times more than I thought I would by the way I had to struggle at first. At times my brain hurt. I felt it was more sad and scary - than funny -- but it's funny too ( in dialogue with the characters)...
I had to suspend believe a little - but I didn't mind -- because I my heart deepen at the same time for THE TRIBE. What I really felt was love......
mixed with sadness! I actually cried when I read the in the author's acknowledgments that he was not 'kvetching'. I closed the kindle book -- went and laid on my bed and had a good old fashion ugly cry!
Thank You Crown Publishing, NetGalley, and David Samuel Levinson
but I had to re-read the the first 7% of this book: START OVER...sit upright in a chair with a pen and paper taking notes the second time around to find my heart to stay invested in reading this novel.
I'm Jewish.... I didn't want to give up on this book - yet I really felt lost BECAUSE MY MIND KEPT DRIFTING elsewhere.... ( worries ...who knows?)
I apologize to the author!
However ... sitting in a chair reading David Samuel Levinson's book for a few hours did the trick.... I BECAME AUTHENTICALLY interested!!!! Whew!!! I was able to slouch-read in a comfy soft chair for the rest of the book.
A few basic facts: The 'core' JACOBSON FAMILY
Julian: The abusive 'mean-machine' father -- He said egregious things and physical affection wasn't in his DNA. Julian put his wife's efforts down surrounding most holy days. Like everything else, Julian, let her know where she faltered---from blessing the candles to her rudimentary Hebrew.
Roz: The wife and Mother. She had converted to Judaism...tried to be a good Jewish wife and mother---Torah study three nights a week.... attended services at the synagogue with a fervent dedication and really got into Shabbat - the rituals. Roz never felt Jewish enough for Julian. And now....she is dying. The Passover dinner with their three adult kids and their significant others could be Roz's last family gathering before she dies.
Moses: (Mo) is the oldest son-Married, 5 kids...Actor. His TV reality show has been cancelled.... which doesn't help with his vanity that he never out grew.
The Passover dinner is scheduled to be at Mo's house.
Edith: ( Thistle), Middle child...'THE FEMALE PEACEMAKER'... perhaps dad's favorite while growing up. She teaches at Ivy league, Emory university. She faces a challenging problem of being accused of sexually harassing a student... she didn't ... but it's still a pain in the ass to be accused.
Jacob: The BABY! ( my personal favorite -- I was the 'baby' in my family too--I relate to subtle ways he thinks). Jay has a German boyfriend named Dietrich (Diet), who came from Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany...."the original breadbasket of anti-semitism".
Jacob wonders if self consciously he is testing the limits with his parents by bringing his German boyfriend home for a Jewish Passover dinner. Don't all 'baby's test their parents subconsciously, for their families acceptance and of love?
Jacob had an odd calming effect on his mother, Roz. I loved that...basked in the feeling for my own selfish reasons: my younger daughter does that for me....and I hope I was that for my mother the last few years before she died.
The three siblings - each with their own personal troubles and squabbles -- have joined forces together with an outrageous scheme ( Edith has reservations), but their target is Julian. Roz learns of her kids plan from Dietrich. Roz also learned that her kids had returned to L.A. not really for a happy family Passover celebration...but to expedite their felonious acts.
....There was a Seder. ( in case you were wondering) ......
....The year is 2022..... is Israeli refugees are in America- as all over the world now
....Too many attacks on synagogues, and suicide bombings, or school buses with children bombing attacks. Jews were in the news in the United States and around the world. Anti-Semitism was high. Jews had become agnostics and atheists. Neo-Nazi skinheads were in the news.
Julian ...a born Jew... was the worse kind of Jew. I thought about stories my own mother told me-- her name was Roz too -- about her father and her family growing up.
My mom was the 10th child. She grew up in Seattle Washington. They kept a Kosher house.... and my mom says her mother cooked and cleaned to DEATH. Her dad was a Rabbi -- and ( my mother's words) > "a son of a bitch of a father at home".
I ended up liking this book a lot. Tens times more than I thought I would by the way I had to struggle at first. At times my brain hurt. I felt it was more sad and scary - than funny -- but it's funny too ( in dialogue with the characters)...
I had to suspend believe a little - but I didn't mind -- because I my heart deepen at the same time for THE TRIBE. What I really felt was love......
mixed with sadness! I actually cried when I read the in the author's acknowledgments that he was not 'kvetching'. I closed the kindle book -- went and laid on my bed and had a good old fashion ugly cry!
Thank You Crown Publishing, NetGalley, and David Samuel Levinson
June 30, 2020
I won this in a giveaway! (Thank you, Penguin Random House)
And I'm so glad I did because "Tell Me How This Ends Well" by David Samuel Levinson is a complete and utter bombshell! It's part contemporary, part dystopian (takes place in the year, 2022), and part slapstick. The subject matter is dark, very dark but I must say, there were a lot of hysterical and over-the-top moments, but NOT in a campy and pretentious way. I've never had a novel make me belly laugh so much. Levinson is a delightfully wordy and insanely gifted writer. Wow. He's got a wicked mind. But this story is profound and the characters of the 3 grown children, Mo (an actor and ex-reality star), Edith (an ethics professor), and Jacob (a playwright) are nicely fleshed-out and intriguing. I equally enjoyed reading all their points-of-view because each one of them is screwed-up (thanks to their emotionally abusive, sociopathic father) and yet tragically relatable in such fascinating ways. The Jacobson children are looking for revenge and redemption. Each one them has emotional scars from their childhood, and so the trio formulate a plan to do away with their father, Julian, but will their crazy plan work? You just have to read and find out for yourself. I'm head-over-heels in love with this book! It energized me whenever I was having a bad day. This novel will be released April 4, 2017. I highly recommend it. Enjoy!
And I'm so glad I did because "Tell Me How This Ends Well" by David Samuel Levinson is a complete and utter bombshell! It's part contemporary, part dystopian (takes place in the year, 2022), and part slapstick. The subject matter is dark, very dark but I must say, there were a lot of hysterical and over-the-top moments, but NOT in a campy and pretentious way. I've never had a novel make me belly laugh so much. Levinson is a delightfully wordy and insanely gifted writer. Wow. He's got a wicked mind. But this story is profound and the characters of the 3 grown children, Mo (an actor and ex-reality star), Edith (an ethics professor), and Jacob (a playwright) are nicely fleshed-out and intriguing. I equally enjoyed reading all their points-of-view because each one of them is screwed-up (thanks to their emotionally abusive, sociopathic father) and yet tragically relatable in such fascinating ways. The Jacobson children are looking for revenge and redemption. Each one them has emotional scars from their childhood, and so the trio formulate a plan to do away with their father, Julian, but will their crazy plan work? You just have to read and find out for yourself. I'm head-over-heels in love with this book! It energized me whenever I was having a bad day. This novel will be released April 4, 2017. I highly recommend it. Enjoy!
January 30, 2019
The prose is an arresting and densely packed mosh of highbrow and lowbrow that I found very appealing. The story itself hits that sweetspot-for-me of being simultaneously unbelievable and perfectly true-to-life--meaning, as I read I kept thinking both "that would never happen" and "wow, that's exactly what the world is like these days."
I do agree with comparisons others have made with author Harold Jacobson, only because he is the closest I can think of to the uniquely dark/comic mix this novel offers--but it is not a close affinity--Levinson has his own vision and it's frankly much more wide-ranging in its willingness to explore extremes of both dark and light.
I'm amazed by the prescience of the novel--although anti-Semitism is ever-present, this novel seems to have predicted a certain dark reality in current America that was less apparent even a few months ago, when the novel was set in galleys. It offers an interesting perspective on Germany, as well, and its current role in the world. I'm glad to have read it.
I do agree with comparisons others have made with author Harold Jacobson, only because he is the closest I can think of to the uniquely dark/comic mix this novel offers--but it is not a close affinity--Levinson has his own vision and it's frankly much more wide-ranging in its willingness to explore extremes of both dark and light.
I'm amazed by the prescience of the novel--although anti-Semitism is ever-present, this novel seems to have predicted a certain dark reality in current America that was less apparent even a few months ago, when the novel was set in galleys. It offers an interesting perspective on Germany, as well, and its current role in the world. I'm glad to have read it.
November 19, 2016
Okay. Like, wow. Holy crap. How did he do that? This novel really is prescient and scarily so. I read somewhere that the author started writing this book in January, 2015, long before Trump was nominated. It's a nod to Levinson's imagination that he tapped into the zeitgeist and took the pulse of our broken country. And he did it in such a wonderful way through the Jacobsons, whom I love—Jacob, Edith, and Moses, the siblings, who plot the death of their hideous father. and Julian Jacobson is quite frankly one of the most well-drawn and abhorrent fathers I've ever met. You will see what I mean when you read Tell Me How This Ends Well and you should read it! It's quite brilliant and a really easy read. It's a chilling portrayal of a near-future America, though that near-future seems to have arrived a few years early. I just cannot recommend this book highly enough.
June 6, 2017
A more complete review is available on my blog:
http://reviewsofbooksonmynightstand.b...
Levinson has written the most honest account of a dysfunctional family that I have read in a long time. The satire is perfect but there isn't so much humor that it allows the reader to gloss over the true drama of a family in crisis or the horrors of antisemitism and racism. The book is told with each sibling in mind at a time. The characters are really interesting. I keep trying to figure out if the family patriarch, Julian Jacobson, has indeed changed from his bullying ways and is being kinder to his wife, Roz, or is playing a role. Mo, Jacob and Edith say that they want to kill Julian for the benefit of their mother but they all seem to remember more unkind things that Julian did to them as children, as opposed to cruelties toward their mother. The book read a little slowly for me but it was interesting. It seemed to become more interesting as the story started to unfold. Overall, I really liked this book. It was very different from any other book I have read. This would be a great book for someone who enjoys humor and satire. Those who enjoy fiction by Maria Semple or Jen Lancaster will be sure to love this book.
I received an advanced copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions are my own.
http://reviewsofbooksonmynightstand.b...
Levinson has written the most honest account of a dysfunctional family that I have read in a long time. The satire is perfect but there isn't so much humor that it allows the reader to gloss over the true drama of a family in crisis or the horrors of antisemitism and racism. The book is told with each sibling in mind at a time. The characters are really interesting. I keep trying to figure out if the family patriarch, Julian Jacobson, has indeed changed from his bullying ways and is being kinder to his wife, Roz, or is playing a role. Mo, Jacob and Edith say that they want to kill Julian for the benefit of their mother but they all seem to remember more unkind things that Julian did to them as children, as opposed to cruelties toward their mother. The book read a little slowly for me but it was interesting. It seemed to become more interesting as the story started to unfold. Overall, I really liked this book. It was very different from any other book I have read. This would be a great book for someone who enjoys humor and satire. Those who enjoy fiction by Maria Semple or Jen Lancaster will be sure to love this book.
I received an advanced copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions are my own.
December 11, 2016
I would like to thank LibraryThing and Penguin Random House Publishers for the Advanced Reader’s Edition of “Tell Me How This Ends Well” by David Samuel Levinson. WOW!!The year is 2022,and the politics in the world seem dismal, horrendous and unspeakable. Anti-Semitism and terrorists attacks are more prevalent in the United States as well as the rest of the world. Israel has been divided, and doesn’t exist as we know it. The author starts with a fictional timeline that is worrisome and frightening.
David Samuel Levinson describes the setting and introduces us to an extremely dysfunctional Jewish family meeting in Los Angeles for Passover. All of the characters are flawed, quirky and complex. One of the most unlikeable characters is the father, who has been abusive, critical, and tyrannical to his wife and family. It is amazing that the rest of the characters are not in lifetime therapy. The wife is dying of lung disease, and the family getting together at possibly their last Passover could be heartwarming.
David Samuel Levinson has written a satire and in this novel adds the fact that the two brothers and sister feel the best that they can do for their ailing mother is to kill their abusive father,and let her live out her life in peace. The brothers and sister start on an adventure and plot. One of the brothers has a German boyfriend accompanying him. Other characters we meet are also strange.
I did enjoy “Tell Me How This Ends Well”, and found the dark humor and satire entertaining. The descriptions of the characters are detailed , and the plot intriguing. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys satire and the fiction genre.
David Samuel Levinson describes the setting and introduces us to an extremely dysfunctional Jewish family meeting in Los Angeles for Passover. All of the characters are flawed, quirky and complex. One of the most unlikeable characters is the father, who has been abusive, critical, and tyrannical to his wife and family. It is amazing that the rest of the characters are not in lifetime therapy. The wife is dying of lung disease, and the family getting together at possibly their last Passover could be heartwarming.
David Samuel Levinson has written a satire and in this novel adds the fact that the two brothers and sister feel the best that they can do for their ailing mother is to kill their abusive father,and let her live out her life in peace. The brothers and sister start on an adventure and plot. One of the brothers has a German boyfriend accompanying him. Other characters we meet are also strange.
I did enjoy “Tell Me How This Ends Well”, and found the dark humor and satire entertaining. The descriptions of the characters are detailed , and the plot intriguing. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys satire and the fiction genre.
March 13, 2017
Both funny and eerily prescient, Tell me How This Ends Well is at first glance the story of the American Jewish family gone keflooey. Like all great family sagas, the characters convene for a meal--in this case a seder-- where more than the matzo goes awry as the three descendants of one utterly heinous patriarch dissemble and plot. Behind this is a brutal and anti-Semitic American and world landscape; Israel is no more. Jews are no longer safe anywhere, least of all the 101.
The book begs many questions, not just the famous four. The first perhaps being, were we-- take your pick, Jews, gays, or humanity-- ever safe? What does it mean to come home? What is home? What makes a Jew? And what of the white peacock?
Along the freeway, for Levinson spends a lot of time with his characters in cars, perhaps to indicate that solitude of Americans, the on-the-road again nature of homeless, itinerant Jews. The great nomadic tribe of the world. Will we spend our lives as these characters do, going from job to job, lover to lover or will we finally find roots as evinced by the Gentile experience in Europe (See Levinson's VIRTUOSIC SCENE in Germany over Christmas) or even America?
These Characters are funny, bitter, human, weirdos. (I say this as a compliment.) I especially loved the sister Edith, but also the protagonist Jacob. He's both lost and found in this dark and darkly compelling, well-written and imminently readable book.
The book begs many questions, not just the famous four. The first perhaps being, were we-- take your pick, Jews, gays, or humanity-- ever safe? What does it mean to come home? What is home? What makes a Jew? And what of the white peacock?
Along the freeway, for Levinson spends a lot of time with his characters in cars, perhaps to indicate that solitude of Americans, the on-the-road again nature of homeless, itinerant Jews. The great nomadic tribe of the world. Will we spend our lives as these characters do, going from job to job, lover to lover or will we finally find roots as evinced by the Gentile experience in Europe (See Levinson's VIRTUOSIC SCENE in Germany over Christmas) or even America?
These Characters are funny, bitter, human, weirdos. (I say this as a compliment.) I especially loved the sister Edith, but also the protagonist Jacob. He's both lost and found in this dark and darkly compelling, well-written and imminently readable book.
June 1, 2017
I'm honestly between two and three stars on this one.
If anyone other than a Jewish person had written this I would Throw Up, as I feel the world is already still grossly anti Semitic and the prospect of it being this bad in the near future is absolutely terrifying.
That said, the main plot was clever and humorous but this family has Problems.
If anyone other than a Jewish person had written this I would Throw Up, as I feel the world is already still grossly anti Semitic and the prospect of it being this bad in the near future is absolutely terrifying.
That said, the main plot was clever and humorous but this family has Problems.
November 3, 2017
It took me a little while to get going on this book but once I did I found it quite fascinating. The characters were interesting. It was also interesting how David made America in 2022 with relations to Jews. I can see this happening with our current administration. This story put the spotlight on how women will stay with their husband even though he is an evil person. It shows how children can be very protective of their mother and also how far someone would go to end the misery. I really enjoyed the book.
April 21, 2017
Patricide on Passover.
It’s 2022 in LA and the Jacobsons are gathering at eldest son Mo’s home on Von Trapp Drive for Passover, the celebration that marks Moses leading the Jewish people out of slavery in Egypt. Jacob has flown in from Berlin with his German boyfriend Dietrich. Edith (aka Thistle) has arrived from Atlanta where she is an ethics professor. Parents, Julian and Roz, have travelled from their home in Texas. The three offspring despise their father’s sadistic bullying which has ruined their lives. They’re hatching a plan to kill him.
In David Samuel Levinson’s black satire, nobody is feeling good about anything. The state of Israel has recently lost the war with its neighbours and no longer exists. A wave of Jewish immigration has resulted in a rising tide of blatant anti-Semitism. And the clogged roads of LA are raising everyone’s stress levels. (They also neatly reflect the clogged state of Roz’s lungs: she is dying of a pulmonary condition and, in one irony too many, her husband Julian is a respiratory physiologist.)
By rights, this novel should be very funny and yet the dark humour struggles to surface. I would like to have seen more in the way of savage wit. There are no chapters; instead the book is divided into large chunks, seen from each of the family’s point of view. It starts strongly but loses its way and the last quarter of the book descends into mewling memoiresque longueur. So in that sense, no – this doesn’t end well.
It’s 2022 in LA and the Jacobsons are gathering at eldest son Mo’s home on Von Trapp Drive for Passover, the celebration that marks Moses leading the Jewish people out of slavery in Egypt. Jacob has flown in from Berlin with his German boyfriend Dietrich. Edith (aka Thistle) has arrived from Atlanta where she is an ethics professor. Parents, Julian and Roz, have travelled from their home in Texas. The three offspring despise their father’s sadistic bullying which has ruined their lives. They’re hatching a plan to kill him.
In David Samuel Levinson’s black satire, nobody is feeling good about anything. The state of Israel has recently lost the war with its neighbours and no longer exists. A wave of Jewish immigration has resulted in a rising tide of blatant anti-Semitism. And the clogged roads of LA are raising everyone’s stress levels. (They also neatly reflect the clogged state of Roz’s lungs: she is dying of a pulmonary condition and, in one irony too many, her husband Julian is a respiratory physiologist.)
By rights, this novel should be very funny and yet the dark humour struggles to surface. I would like to have seen more in the way of savage wit. There are no chapters; instead the book is divided into large chunks, seen from each of the family’s point of view. It starts strongly but loses its way and the last quarter of the book descends into mewling memoiresque longueur. So in that sense, no – this doesn’t end well.
February 6, 2017
The year is 2022. In this barely-futuristic society, Jewish people are being persecuted the world over. As a group as well as individually, hateful acts and comments are being directed towards Jews everywhere. In the midst of this chaos, the Jacobson family is coming together to celebrate Passover. But in this highly dysfunctional family, this is anything but a happy reunion. Indeed, the three grown siblings are plotting the demise of their hated father, so that their mother’s last days on this earth may be free of her despicable husband so she can die in peace. Though billed as “darkly humorous,” this rather lengthy novel has no humor. It also has no chapters. Instead, it is divided into sections, told by each of the kids and the mom. The premise of the tale had potential, but before I was halfway through it, I was tired of the whiny adults, of reading about their detailed sexcapades, of their self-destructive behavior, and of their poor judgment in making decisions. We hated the father and pitied the mother, but neither character was well-developed. Though lengthy and wordy, there really isn’t much of a plot. None of the characters is happy, and neither was this reader, mislead as I was by the description of the book. This futuristic society is undeniably flawed; this family is unfixably flawed; this novel is unfortunately flawed.
December 3, 2017
Thanks to LibraryThing for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.
I loved this book; but of course I enjoy books about Jewish families. It was set in 2022 and saw some futuristic references which were funny, i.e., Richard Nixon's granddaughter (probably) as President and Apple Paltrow as an actress and others which will probably happen in the future. There weren't any chapters in this book but divided into 4 sections told by the 2 sons, the eldest, Moses, the other son, Jacob, and Edith, the youngest and the final chapter by Roz (the mother).
It was humorous and sad at the same time w/this family and the way that Julian Jacobson treated his family and how emotionally abusive he was. In the end, he got his due in an unexpected way.
I loved this book; but of course I enjoy books about Jewish families. It was set in 2022 and saw some futuristic references which were funny, i.e., Richard Nixon's granddaughter (probably) as President and Apple Paltrow as an actress and others which will probably happen in the future. There weren't any chapters in this book but divided into 4 sections told by the 2 sons, the eldest, Moses, the other son, Jacob, and Edith, the youngest and the final chapter by Roz (the mother).
It was humorous and sad at the same time w/this family and the way that Julian Jacobson treated his family and how emotionally abusive he was. In the end, he got his due in an unexpected way.
July 19, 2017
I'm a complete sucker for Jewish family stories and dysfunctional family coming together for holiday stories but this really wasn't for me. It took me 150 pages to get into Levinson's tangenital storytelling style and then the nature of the story (three siblings coming together to murder their abusive father so their dying mother can enjoy her last few months) was too bleak for me. It's satire but I rarely found it funny and it just felt bloated and over-written. The siblings were well rendered complex characters though. So yeah I'm afraid this didn't end well for me but at least it did end.
June 23, 2017
In 2022 Los Angeles the Jacobson family is gathering for one last Passover. Their matriarch is dying and her three kids are planning for the Angel of Death to visit dear old dad. They just want mom's last days to be happy and peaceful.
"America First" resulted in allowing a military takeover of Israel by surrounding Arab countries. The Jews were forced out across the world. Germany has welcomed the Jews, perhaps as expiation for their past sins. America has seen a rise in Anti-Semitism and terrorist attacks on Jews.
Julian Jacobson deserves the title of world's worst father and husband. He married heiress Roz, but with the birth of their first child Mo, the honeymoon was over.
Julian is disappointed in each successive child--Mo, Edith, and Jacob--and he deals out abuse that impairs them into their adult relationships. Mo works out at the gym for a "few hours of intense weight lifting and cardio to expunge these memories, but then Moses was as good as new, returning from the battleground of the past having once again slain the fire-breathing dragon that was dad."
"He just stabs with his mouth."
The kids wonder why Roz has stayed with the selfish bastard. Now there is evidence that Julian is hastening Roz's demise, perhaps to keep her money from his disappointing kids. The sibs plot, plan, and argue while realizing just how evil their father really was. The ending is a surprise and a satisfying twist.
Tell Me How This Ends Well by David Samuel Levinson surprised me. The novel is wildly funny, and yet is deadly serious. I loved the dark comedy and the over-the-top characters. It is also a chilling look at how America, and the world, is evolving. Readers who enjoy dark comedy on "taboo subjects" --like patricide, an unethical ethics professor, and the disposal of dead bodies--will love this book.
I received a free book from Blogging for Books in exchange for a fair an unbiased review.
"America First" resulted in allowing a military takeover of Israel by surrounding Arab countries. The Jews were forced out across the world. Germany has welcomed the Jews, perhaps as expiation for their past sins. America has seen a rise in Anti-Semitism and terrorist attacks on Jews.
Julian Jacobson deserves the title of world's worst father and husband. He married heiress Roz, but with the birth of their first child Mo, the honeymoon was over.
Julian is disappointed in each successive child--Mo, Edith, and Jacob--and he deals out abuse that impairs them into their adult relationships. Mo works out at the gym for a "few hours of intense weight lifting and cardio to expunge these memories, but then Moses was as good as new, returning from the battleground of the past having once again slain the fire-breathing dragon that was dad."
"He just stabs with his mouth."
The kids wonder why Roz has stayed with the selfish bastard. Now there is evidence that Julian is hastening Roz's demise, perhaps to keep her money from his disappointing kids. The sibs plot, plan, and argue while realizing just how evil their father really was. The ending is a surprise and a satisfying twist.
Tell Me How This Ends Well by David Samuel Levinson surprised me. The novel is wildly funny, and yet is deadly serious. I loved the dark comedy and the over-the-top characters. It is also a chilling look at how America, and the world, is evolving. Readers who enjoy dark comedy on "taboo subjects" --like patricide, an unethical ethics professor, and the disposal of dead bodies--will love this book.
I received a free book from Blogging for Books in exchange for a fair an unbiased review.
March 27, 2017
In his novel, Tell Me How This Ends Well, David Samuel Levinson has created one of the most despicable characters I’ve encountered in a long time, Julian Jacobson. Whether he’s belittling one of his three adult children, tampering with his dying wife’s oxygen tank, or smashing his grandson’s fingers in the barbecue grill, you know it’s not the first or last of his transgressions. So I, the reader, sympathized totally when siblings Mo, Edith, and Jacob decide they’ve had enough and plot to rid themselves of his dominance forever.
It’s 2022 Los Angeles, Israel is no longer a state, and anti-Semitism abounds. It’s amidst this turmoil that the Jacobson siblings arrive at Mo’s house to celebrate Passover and carry out their plan, Jacob and his partner Dietrich from Berlin and Edith from Atlanta. Parents Julian and Roslyn have driven from Texas to join the group for the holiday.
Tell Me How This Ends Well covers a lot of ground from anti-Semitism, politics, homophobia and strangely enough, America’s fixation with reality television. The Jacobson’s are the archetype of the dysfunctional family and Mr. Levinson portrays them with all of their eccentricities, at times sad, sometimes humorous, often annoying, and never dull.
It’s 2022 Los Angeles, Israel is no longer a state, and anti-Semitism abounds. It’s amidst this turmoil that the Jacobson siblings arrive at Mo’s house to celebrate Passover and carry out their plan, Jacob and his partner Dietrich from Berlin and Edith from Atlanta. Parents Julian and Roslyn have driven from Texas to join the group for the holiday.
Tell Me How This Ends Well covers a lot of ground from anti-Semitism, politics, homophobia and strangely enough, America’s fixation with reality television. The Jacobson’s are the archetype of the dysfunctional family and Mr. Levinson portrays them with all of their eccentricities, at times sad, sometimes humorous, often annoying, and never dull.
April 7, 2017
Very good one..this is one of the best read recently...
February 3, 2017
I put down Jonathan Safran Foer's I Am Here to read this book. I'm not sure why. That's not a convoluted compliment for I Am Here; I didn't go back to it. I just mean the similarities are stark. Both are about Jewish families trying to figure out their relationships to each other and to Israel. In one, something bad is about to happen to the state of Israel, and in the other something bad has already happened to it.
Coming back specifically to Levinson's book, I'm going to leave right away again to mention my wife, who can't like a book in which she doesn't like at least one character. I wouldn't say that's true for me, but it was part of the problem--I didn't care for any of the characters except a little for Mom and the German boyfriend, but I felt like the author meant for me to empathize with his flawed, three-dimensional, point-of-view-relating adult children. If that's the case, he shouldn't have flawed them so emphatically.
The second and third stars appear above for you, dear reader, who might like their protagonists flawed as deeply and as mutually contemptuous as these. If you can get past, or even enjoy, that, then the story is not straightforward, the villain and heroine have an exquisitely tortured relationship, the multiple points of view serve the story well, and, while the promotional adjectives "funny" and "hilarious" do not apply, the more appropriate twisted and amusing sometimes do.
Coming back specifically to Levinson's book, I'm going to leave right away again to mention my wife, who can't like a book in which she doesn't like at least one character. I wouldn't say that's true for me, but it was part of the problem--I didn't care for any of the characters except a little for Mom and the German boyfriend, but I felt like the author meant for me to empathize with his flawed, three-dimensional, point-of-view-relating adult children. If that's the case, he shouldn't have flawed them so emphatically.
The second and third stars appear above for you, dear reader, who might like their protagonists flawed as deeply and as mutually contemptuous as these. If you can get past, or even enjoy, that, then the story is not straightforward, the villain and heroine have an exquisitely tortured relationship, the multiple points of view serve the story well, and, while the promotional adjectives "funny" and "hilarious" do not apply, the more appropriate twisted and amusing sometimes do.
April 25, 2017
Moses, Jacob and Edith are siblings. Their parents are Rosayln and Julian. Rosalyn has received a fatal diagnosis. Odds on favorite is that she will pass away before her husband. Julian is an asshole. For as long as the kids can remember, he says hurtful, vindictive and hateful thing. If their Mom passes away first, who is going to take care of their Dad? None of them want to take him on. The solution they decide upon is to kill him.
And so begins this very funny story. Each of the adult children narrates a section of the story. With this, we not only learn the history of each of them, but also see how the plot to off their Dad progresses. I liked this for the chaos and quirkiness, along with the reflection on family life and relationships.
For all of the silliness through most of the book, the last chapter turns a bit more serious. It is narrated by Rosalyn. It brought an interesting closure to the story and was somewhat unexpected.
ARC from Crown Publishing via Netgally. Publish date: April 4, 2017.
And so begins this very funny story. Each of the adult children narrates a section of the story. With this, we not only learn the history of each of them, but also see how the plot to off their Dad progresses. I liked this for the chaos and quirkiness, along with the reflection on family life and relationships.
For all of the silliness through most of the book, the last chapter turns a bit more serious. It is narrated by Rosalyn. It brought an interesting closure to the story and was somewhat unexpected.
ARC from Crown Publishing via Netgally. Publish date: April 4, 2017.
April 27, 2017
I rated this 4 stars, but only if you are Jewish. Too many inside jokes to be of general interest. And further, I tried to abandon it at 29%, but was without wifi to load anything else, so stuck with it and by 51% I couldn't quit it. So be warned, it takes an intrepid reader.
April 6, 2017
Tell Me How This Ends Well by David Samuel Levinson is a highly recommended novel featuring black humor, a dysfunctional family, and an anti-Semitic America.
It's 2022 and the Jacobson family is gathering for Passover in Los Angeles. Jacobson siblings Mo, Edith, and Jacob are also plotting to kill their father, the despicable, abusive Julian who has made their lives and their mother Roz's life miserable. Now Roz only has a few months left to live and the siblings are sure Julian is trying to hurry her death along so he can have complete control of her inherited fortune. After putting up with his emotional, verbal, and sometimes physical abuse for years and watching their mother's plight, it is time to end Julian's reign of terror while the whole family is together to celebrate Passover. This is assuming, naturally, that the three can work together and put old grudges aside.
The novel is told in four large sections by each of the siblings and Roz. Then there is a final word by Jacob.
Jacob Jacobson is the gay son who is currently a playwright living in Berlin with his German lover, Dietrich. Jacob and Dietrich have traveled together for what Jacob is sure will be the last time he sees his mother alive.
Edith Jacobson Plunkett, or Thistle, is currently a divorced college ethics professor who has a sexual harassment suit filed against her.
Moses Orenstein-Jacobson, or Mo, is an actor married to Pandora. They have triplets and twins, all boys, and starred in their own reality TV show called The JacobSONS! The family is meeting at their home, where the Passover Seder will be filmed as a special episode of The JacobSONS!
Rosalyn Jacobson, or Roz, the mother of the three, has a surprising chapter of revelations and insights.
Along with the back stories of the four and the current murder plot of the three siblings, there is also plenty of insight into all the abuse Julian heaped upon his family. Julian is a truly evil character with no redeeming qualities at all and continues in the novel to verbally and physically abuse his family. You will want to see him get what he deserves and appreciate the black humor as his demise is debated. The siblings are not lovable characters either, but even with all of their flaws they are definitely better than Julian.
Added to the whole grim atmosphere is the less humorous and more insidious anti-Semitism running rampant in this not-to-distant-future America. In 2022 Israel is no more, after a war during which the United States did nothing. Now 4 million Jewish refugees have relocated to the U.S., which has resulted in a violent xenophobic reaction and constant domestic terrorism.
Tell Me How This Ends Well is very well written and I liked the chapters narrated from the point-of-view of an individual sibling. The characters are extremely well-developed. While some of the action is a bit farcical, it is entertaining - and disturbing. The best part of the novel is the inept plotting of the three siblings. Some of their actions and reactions are humorous and make the novel a pleasure to read. The increasing and ever present anti-Semitism is just disturbing and upsetting; it is perhaps a bit too realistic in this particular setting.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Hogarth.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2017/0...
It's 2022 and the Jacobson family is gathering for Passover in Los Angeles. Jacobson siblings Mo, Edith, and Jacob are also plotting to kill their father, the despicable, abusive Julian who has made their lives and their mother Roz's life miserable. Now Roz only has a few months left to live and the siblings are sure Julian is trying to hurry her death along so he can have complete control of her inherited fortune. After putting up with his emotional, verbal, and sometimes physical abuse for years and watching their mother's plight, it is time to end Julian's reign of terror while the whole family is together to celebrate Passover. This is assuming, naturally, that the three can work together and put old grudges aside.
The novel is told in four large sections by each of the siblings and Roz. Then there is a final word by Jacob.
Jacob Jacobson is the gay son who is currently a playwright living in Berlin with his German lover, Dietrich. Jacob and Dietrich have traveled together for what Jacob is sure will be the last time he sees his mother alive.
Edith Jacobson Plunkett, or Thistle, is currently a divorced college ethics professor who has a sexual harassment suit filed against her.
Moses Orenstein-Jacobson, or Mo, is an actor married to Pandora. They have triplets and twins, all boys, and starred in their own reality TV show called The JacobSONS! The family is meeting at their home, where the Passover Seder will be filmed as a special episode of The JacobSONS!
Rosalyn Jacobson, or Roz, the mother of the three, has a surprising chapter of revelations and insights.
Along with the back stories of the four and the current murder plot of the three siblings, there is also plenty of insight into all the abuse Julian heaped upon his family. Julian is a truly evil character with no redeeming qualities at all and continues in the novel to verbally and physically abuse his family. You will want to see him get what he deserves and appreciate the black humor as his demise is debated. The siblings are not lovable characters either, but even with all of their flaws they are definitely better than Julian.
Added to the whole grim atmosphere is the less humorous and more insidious anti-Semitism running rampant in this not-to-distant-future America. In 2022 Israel is no more, after a war during which the United States did nothing. Now 4 million Jewish refugees have relocated to the U.S., which has resulted in a violent xenophobic reaction and constant domestic terrorism.
Tell Me How This Ends Well is very well written and I liked the chapters narrated from the point-of-view of an individual sibling. The characters are extremely well-developed. While some of the action is a bit farcical, it is entertaining - and disturbing. The best part of the novel is the inept plotting of the three siblings. Some of their actions and reactions are humorous and make the novel a pleasure to read. The increasing and ever present anti-Semitism is just disturbing and upsetting; it is perhaps a bit too realistic in this particular setting.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Hogarth.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2017/0...
June 6, 2017
Won from GoodReads Giveaway! Thanx!
March 23, 2017
Wow is one word to describe this book.
Set just 5 years from now (April 2022), Tell Me How This Ends Well tells the story of the Jacobson family, a jewish family living in an America that is slowly turning into a Nazi Germany-lite. They aren't being dragged off to camps but they are dealing with an increase in attacks against them from suicide bombers (yes, in the US) to have slurs written on their homes to discrimination in a number of ways. The family is gathering for Passover, the first time they've been together in a while as the youngest son of the Jacobson clan has being living Germany for a few years.
Told in 3 very long chapter (100 plus pages each), one slightly shorter chapter (about 50 pages), and one normal sized chapter (about 15 pages), we follow each of the Jacobson children, Moses, Edith, & the unfortunately named Jacob Jacobson (seriously, who does this?) and their mother, Roz as they each navigate a weekend that will ultimately change their lives.
The children have all gathered to not only be together in what may be the final days of their mother's life but to kill their father. Yes, they want to kill their overbearing unloving father. Reading some of the memories of life with their father and even seeing how he treats them now, it isn't too surprising they want to end his life. Each of the children has their own reason and their own doubts about what they want to do.
The Jacobson are not perfect people. They are flawed, each in their own ways mostly due to the treatment they received at the hands of their father and husband. He treated, or rather mistreated, them all differently. Did he deserve their wrath? Yeah, probably.
While I did enjoy this book, I think it would've benefited from being broken down a bit more. Within each section (each one following a different character though never in the first person) there are flashbacks as well as moments in the present and I feel it would've helped with the flow and understanding if these were split up into separate chapters.
Its frightening to imagine a world like the one depicted in the background this book, where a select group of people are terrorized but it seems like we are heading more and more down that road each day as people allow hate to rule them and they turn to violence to show their hatred. You see it in the news every day and while it may not be based on religion, racial violence seems to be taking over our country. In fate, as I was reading this book, a terror attack happened in London. Can we ever hope to live in a world were people don't want to kill? Doubtful but it would be nice.
Set just 5 years from now (April 2022), Tell Me How This Ends Well tells the story of the Jacobson family, a jewish family living in an America that is slowly turning into a Nazi Germany-lite. They aren't being dragged off to camps but they are dealing with an increase in attacks against them from suicide bombers (yes, in the US) to have slurs written on their homes to discrimination in a number of ways. The family is gathering for Passover, the first time they've been together in a while as the youngest son of the Jacobson clan has being living Germany for a few years.
Told in 3 very long chapter (100 plus pages each), one slightly shorter chapter (about 50 pages), and one normal sized chapter (about 15 pages), we follow each of the Jacobson children, Moses, Edith, & the unfortunately named Jacob Jacobson (seriously, who does this?) and their mother, Roz as they each navigate a weekend that will ultimately change their lives.
The children have all gathered to not only be together in what may be the final days of their mother's life but to kill their father. Yes, they want to kill their overbearing unloving father. Reading some of the memories of life with their father and even seeing how he treats them now, it isn't too surprising they want to end his life. Each of the children has their own reason and their own doubts about what they want to do.
The Jacobson are not perfect people. They are flawed, each in their own ways mostly due to the treatment they received at the hands of their father and husband. He treated, or rather mistreated, them all differently. Did he deserve their wrath? Yeah, probably.
While I did enjoy this book, I think it would've benefited from being broken down a bit more. Within each section (each one following a different character though never in the first person) there are flashbacks as well as moments in the present and I feel it would've helped with the flow and understanding if these were split up into separate chapters.
Its frightening to imagine a world like the one depicted in the background this book, where a select group of people are terrorized but it seems like we are heading more and more down that road each day as people allow hate to rule them and they turn to violence to show their hatred. You see it in the news every day and while it may not be based on religion, racial violence seems to be taking over our country. In fate, as I was reading this book, a terror attack happened in London. Can we ever hope to live in a world were people don't want to kill? Doubtful but it would be nice.
December 11, 2016
First let me say thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for giving me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Check out my blog for lots of great reviews and content!
BookItForward.Blog
Who would have thought that a book about three siblings getting together to murder their father would be so humorous and entertaining? There probably has never been a book written like this before, or at least one quite so entertaining. From the very beginning I was extremely invested in the Jacobson Family. Each of the siblings has their own section of the book which means you get to the see the story from each of their perspectives. When I initially chose this book to read, I thought it would be very dark. But it was quite the opposite. Each character has their flaws, but I think that is what makes them relatable and wonderful. The story begins with the two youngest Jacobson children travelling to older brother Mo's house to celebrate Passover with their parents. Julian, the patriarch of the family is a terrible man who has been a verbally abusive father to each of the children throughout their childhood and into their adult lives. Their mother Roz is dying and they all believe this will be their last Holiday with her. Because of this, the children truly believe that their mother needs to spend her last months alive living without their father. So it is their job to kill him. Jacob, the youngest Jacobson flies in from Germany with his boyfriend Dietrich. The Jacobson family has a hard time accepting Dietrich and his German descent especially in the current Anti-Jewish climate that has once again taken over the world including the US. Edith, the middle child is divorced and currently embroiled in a sex scandal involving one of her college students. She is a mess and has an interesting past with men. This leaves Mo, the Hollywood actor who has 5 young sons with his equally famous entrepreneur wife Pandora. On the surface, his life seems to going well. But underneath his perfect exterior, he is having major problems with his wife and is dealing with a faltering career in show business. Once all of the siblings are in the house, shenanigans ensue and the most complicated comical story emerges of a family faced with the certain death of the mother they love, and the menacing father who they suspect may not be caring for her as well as he claims. Through each of the siblings stories, you see how horrible of a person their father is and how this has impacted each of their lives. This is a fantastic story about a screwed up family and the potential redemption life has in store for each of them.
5 Stars for this one! I will remind you to pick this up as the time gets closer to its release date.
Check out my blog for lots of great reviews and content!
BookItForward.Blog
Who would have thought that a book about three siblings getting together to murder their father would be so humorous and entertaining? There probably has never been a book written like this before, or at least one quite so entertaining. From the very beginning I was extremely invested in the Jacobson Family. Each of the siblings has their own section of the book which means you get to the see the story from each of their perspectives. When I initially chose this book to read, I thought it would be very dark. But it was quite the opposite. Each character has their flaws, but I think that is what makes them relatable and wonderful. The story begins with the two youngest Jacobson children travelling to older brother Mo's house to celebrate Passover with their parents. Julian, the patriarch of the family is a terrible man who has been a verbally abusive father to each of the children throughout their childhood and into their adult lives. Their mother Roz is dying and they all believe this will be their last Holiday with her. Because of this, the children truly believe that their mother needs to spend her last months alive living without their father. So it is their job to kill him. Jacob, the youngest Jacobson flies in from Germany with his boyfriend Dietrich. The Jacobson family has a hard time accepting Dietrich and his German descent especially in the current Anti-Jewish climate that has once again taken over the world including the US. Edith, the middle child is divorced and currently embroiled in a sex scandal involving one of her college students. She is a mess and has an interesting past with men. This leaves Mo, the Hollywood actor who has 5 young sons with his equally famous entrepreneur wife Pandora. On the surface, his life seems to going well. But underneath his perfect exterior, he is having major problems with his wife and is dealing with a faltering career in show business. Once all of the siblings are in the house, shenanigans ensue and the most complicated comical story emerges of a family faced with the certain death of the mother they love, and the menacing father who they suspect may not be caring for her as well as he claims. Through each of the siblings stories, you see how horrible of a person their father is and how this has impacted each of their lives. This is a fantastic story about a screwed up family and the potential redemption life has in store for each of them.
5 Stars for this one! I will remind you to pick this up as the time gets closer to its release date.
May 4, 2017
I struggled not to DNF this book but I received a copy to review and I wanted to be thorough so I read through the whole thing but honestly, after page 200, I was skim-reading, searching in vain for the good parts.
It's 2022 and the only thing that's different is that history is repeating itself. iPhones still work the same, traffic has only gotten worse, people still watch Bravo reality shows. Oh, and when kids (no matter what age) can't get their own way, they plot their parents' demise.
That's the premise of Tell Me How This Ends Well, David Samuel Levinson's novel that is supposed to be dystopic and futuristic but doesn't really achieve either. I am not sure what was the point of setting this novel in the future.
What I Liked
The cover was an instant draw. I mean, look at it.
Hogarth Publishers has a project where famous authors are retelling Shakespearean works and I appreciated how this novel gives a nod to the family dynamics in Hamlet, the forbidden relationships reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet and the daddy's-girl situation in King Lear.
What I Didn't Like
Format - the book doesn't have chapters; instead, it is divided into parts to follow each of the four major characters on different days but this didn't add any intimacy to the story so it felt unnecessary.
Writing - there were too many flashbacks like each narrator wanted to tell me too much about his past to justify what he was doing in the present and it came across a little awkward, like a bad first date.
Content - I didn't like how the author used and overused graphic, sexual references.
Plot - Adults who act like children, still blaming their parents for their disappointing childhood, about to lose their mother and deciding to kill their father also - this is not a spoiler since it is the first line in the blurb.
Characters - I struggled to find a single redeeming quality in any of them.
Length - the novel could have been shortened and turned into a funny (maybe) story and maybe it would have worked but when a novel is over 400 pages, I expect the author to deliver substance to keep my attention during such a long commitment.
It's 2022 and the only thing that's different is that history is repeating itself. iPhones still work the same, traffic has only gotten worse, people still watch Bravo reality shows. Oh, and when kids (no matter what age) can't get their own way, they plot their parents' demise.
That's the premise of Tell Me How This Ends Well, David Samuel Levinson's novel that is supposed to be dystopic and futuristic but doesn't really achieve either. I am not sure what was the point of setting this novel in the future.
What I Liked
The cover was an instant draw. I mean, look at it.
Hogarth Publishers has a project where famous authors are retelling Shakespearean works and I appreciated how this novel gives a nod to the family dynamics in Hamlet, the forbidden relationships reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet and the daddy's-girl situation in King Lear.
What I Didn't Like
Format - the book doesn't have chapters; instead, it is divided into parts to follow each of the four major characters on different days but this didn't add any intimacy to the story so it felt unnecessary.
Writing - there were too many flashbacks like each narrator wanted to tell me too much about his past to justify what he was doing in the present and it came across a little awkward, like a bad first date.
Content - I didn't like how the author used and overused graphic, sexual references.
Plot - Adults who act like children, still blaming their parents for their disappointing childhood, about to lose their mother and deciding to kill their father also - this is not a spoiler since it is the first line in the blurb.
Characters - I struggled to find a single redeeming quality in any of them.
Length - the novel could have been shortened and turned into a funny (maybe) story and maybe it would have worked but when a novel is over 400 pages, I expect the author to deliver substance to keep my attention during such a long commitment.
March 12, 2017
Thanks to LibraryThing for the opportunity to read and review this book.
I contemplated giving up during the first section, told from Jacob's point of view. He was hard to take. Of course, I didn't much care for Edith after a bit either, but the change kept me going. Moses was the most pleasant, and by that far there was no going back. The mother, Roz, was a dear. Diet was a little hard to like at first but that was really Jacob's fault, he turned out to be a great guy. The father was the only person who was constant in his presentation....he really was a monster. I was a little bit uncomfortable that it seemed to fulfill a stereotype about Jewish people, which Moses eventually made a direct reference to, kvetching. They all did really go on and on; I think it would have been a tighter book had the author dialed it back a notch.
The part that was more interesting perhaps is that I was reading this book at the same time as I was reading The Book Thief, set in Nazi Germany, featuring persecuted Jewish people and average Germans that questioned the Hitler regime. At first I had a difficult time with the point of Levinson having set the novel in the near future, upon a rising tide of violent anti-Semitism in the US and elsewhere, but it solidified as the novel progressed and ultimately ended with the greatest irony, which I will leave you to discover on your own.
I was struck by this passage at the end of the book. “This is the pain that will inform all other pains from now on. You have lost your mother. That is the primal pain, what we call it in German. There will never be another pain like this pain. You cannot ready yourself for it because it is unimaginable.”
I contemplated giving up during the first section, told from Jacob's point of view. He was hard to take. Of course, I didn't much care for Edith after a bit either, but the change kept me going. Moses was the most pleasant, and by that far there was no going back. The mother, Roz, was a dear. Diet was a little hard to like at first but that was really Jacob's fault, he turned out to be a great guy. The father was the only person who was constant in his presentation....he really was a monster. I was a little bit uncomfortable that it seemed to fulfill a stereotype about Jewish people, which Moses eventually made a direct reference to, kvetching. They all did really go on and on; I think it would have been a tighter book had the author dialed it back a notch.
The part that was more interesting perhaps is that I was reading this book at the same time as I was reading The Book Thief, set in Nazi Germany, featuring persecuted Jewish people and average Germans that questioned the Hitler regime. At first I had a difficult time with the point of Levinson having set the novel in the near future, upon a rising tide of violent anti-Semitism in the US and elsewhere, but it solidified as the novel progressed and ultimately ended with the greatest irony, which I will leave you to discover on your own.
I was struck by this passage at the end of the book. “This is the pain that will inform all other pains from now on. You have lost your mother. That is the primal pain, what we call it in German. There will never be another pain like this pain. You cannot ready yourself for it because it is unimaginable.”
March 19, 2017
It is the year 2022, and American society is plagued with hatred for the Jews, instilling fear into every American Jew. Not only that, but the three Jewish Jacobson kids, Mo, Edith and Jacob, now adults, are worried about their dying mother. She has only a short time remaining to live, and they want to give her something precious that she has not experienced in her adult life: freedom from her tyrannical and abusive husband, their hateful father. They meet for a Passover celebration at Mo’s elaborate house in LA with the intention of deciding how to get their father out of their mother’s life. As a matter of fact, they would not mind getting him out of their lives, too! Murder lurks in their minds.
This story, for the most part, happens over the three days that Mo, Edith and Jacob gather for the Seder. Each day is, in turn, narrated from the viewpoint of one of the three Jacobson siblings. In this way, the author allows the reader to get to know each of the characters very well. The author’s character development is very strong, making a somewhat strange and unrealistic story come alive. I did not think I would enjoy this one, but I truly did!
I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
This story, for the most part, happens over the three days that Mo, Edith and Jacob gather for the Seder. Each day is, in turn, narrated from the viewpoint of one of the three Jacobson siblings. In this way, the author allows the reader to get to know each of the characters very well. The author’s character development is very strong, making a somewhat strange and unrealistic story come alive. I did not think I would enjoy this one, but I truly did!
I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
January 2, 2017
Raised by a father with no conscience, a mother afraid to speak for them and the events of the world filtered in the Jacobson children grew up with stoicism, hatred of their father and the will to do something – anything – to lose his influence. Despite that, they each in their own way reflect him. Moses (Mo) the actor with a tribe of boys (5) and failing marriage and a house to show off. Edith (Eddie), the ethics professor and lecturer with one failed marriage and one incident which will cause her to lose her position at college. Jacob, the baby, a playwright with some success and a German lover (Dietrich) with whom he lives in Berlin.
The mid-2020’s in the world are falling back to the 1940s and Jews are ostracized, picked on, murdered and no one seems to care. Julian (Dad) spends his vitriolic days making his wife’s life hell and happily sharing that attitude with anyone who will listen. What to do?
The thing that led me to review this book is the first sentence on the back cover. “Why is this night different from all other nights? Tonight we kill Dad.” It doesn’t happen that way but reading this book made me aware of all the twists and turns of the Jacobson family turmoil. An unexpected ending. Great characters. What more can you want? Go. Buy this book.
November 21, 2016
One hell of a compelling read, and it’s hard to believe that something of such high quality has come out at the same time our country is wrestling over its direction and identity. Suspenseful, believable, quirky, “out there,” Tell Me How This Ends Well got me both laughing and squirming as it poked at family, love, the media . . . everything! Set in a dystopian near future that, after experiencing 2016, feels more like the near NOW, the book chronicles the Jacobsons' darkly humorous yet convincingly violent turn toward a “Final Solution” for their family woes, while American society around them also alters in ways dark, threatening, and hauntingly familiar. This is literary quality prose and finely drawn, memorable characters wedded to brilliant storytelling: surprises, overturned expectations, and dystopian elements that enter quietly, build, and explode with a bang by the time it’s all over. It’s rare to see a book that’s both hilarious and devastating, but the way it juggles all these elements left me feeling exuberant rather than grim. What a performance. Is this the first Great Post-Trump America Novel?
December 10, 2016
Engaging, funny, wise, entertaining and moving, Tell Me How This Ends Well is more than a You-Can't-Go-Home-Again story of love, loss and love lost between siblings over one especially fraught passover meal. With both bold and subtle brush strokes, Levinson paints a picture of a family that has been worn down to nub by a dominating father and is now unraveling as America--and indeed the world-- is also unraveling and turning against it's Jews. It's both terrifying and topsy turvy yet prescient. The anti-Semitism parallels the father character's own relentless mean-spirited toxicity towards his own family.
While the characters are richly drawn and the scenes detailed and rife with perfect detail and imagery that captures LA, Academia, Germany at Christmas time, reality TV in a way that would make Don DeLillo proud (think Jewish White Noise), the book reads smoothly. Plus, it's often darkly humorous.
The white swan was also genius.
Read this book. I have loved all of David Samuel Levinson's work, but this is a Tour de Force.
While the characters are richly drawn and the scenes detailed and rife with perfect detail and imagery that captures LA, Academia, Germany at Christmas time, reality TV in a way that would make Don DeLillo proud (think Jewish White Noise), the book reads smoothly. Plus, it's often darkly humorous.
The white swan was also genius.
Read this book. I have loved all of David Samuel Levinson's work, but this is a Tour de Force.
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