Responsible Men: A Novel

by Edward Schwarzschild

Max Wolinsky comes from a family of mostly upstanding salesmen. On the eve of his son's bar mitzvah he returns home to Philadelphia where he plans to put the finishing touches on a not-so-honorable business transaction and then disappear quietly back to Florida. Nothing, however, goes as planned for this con man with a conscience.

Honest, funny, and moving, Responsible Men is a portrait of three generations of men struggling to be good sons and good fathers in a world of big dreams and bigger temptations.

Genres: Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published April 8, 2005

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book, truly I did... but I just found myself mentally smacking the characters and it took me over 2 months to read 3/4 through it and then I just couldn't force myself to any more. I liked it better after my book-club discussion, but still dropped it off at the library, unfinished, on my way home.

[Cathy Houston · Rating 2 out of 5]

con man reformed or maybe not

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was interesting for the first half or so. Just couldn’t stick with it. Max is such a whiny jerk I really didn’t care what happened to him. It didn’t seem like any of the other characters cared either.

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

first time novelist w. story of boy’s gone bad, trying to do better. Very engaging, twisted family story. Read in 2.5/days: 330 pgs.

[Misha · Rating 4 out of 5]

BookList: Is there really such a thing as a responsible man? Max Wolinsky, a swindling salesman, finds himself forced to face this question when he revisits his Philadelphia stomping grounds. After a year of exile in Florida, following his wife’s infidelity, Max returns to see his father and stroke-impaired uncle and to attend his son Nathan’s bar mitzvah, but the trip goes sour when old associates want in on his latest scam. As Max gears up for a midlife crisis, young Nathan must deal with his mother’s new relationship and with the peculiarities of his Jewish Boy Scout troop. While Nathan is stuck in a kosher camp during his mother’s Hawaiian vacation with her lover, Max begins to question his own duplicity and meets a woman who might just keep him honest. An astute understanding of children of divorce coupled with a mature grasp of the pitfalls and pratfalls of adulthood bring depth to this debut. Schwarzschild’s accomplished, no--nonsense prose captures one family’s attempt at responsibility and reconciliation on the dingy, desperate Philly streets. -- MishaStone (BookList, 01-01-2005, p823

[Adam Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ed Schwarzschild's debut novel is one I loved so much I read it twice. Through clear and precise prose, Schwarzschild manages to examine moral struggle on many levels. On the first read, I was swept away by the challenge of a character to make a new start after a dark past. To see a person in such a trap--driven by honorable intentions, yet haunted by a life of dishonor--was truly heartbreaking. Yet the book, on closer examination, also works on familial, historical and philosophical levels. And the more I read, the more I understood its sly humor. This dynamite books defies easy comaprison and must be taken on its own terms. If only all books created, animated and inhabited their own universes the way Responsible Men does.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Philadelphia. Part Death of a Salesman (a family drama, with salesmen and delusions), part Glengary Glen Ross (sales and confidence men, with zingers and a criminal plot), all one whole novel. Well-written, well-paced, sympathetic, excellent. Another fine novel from among the Stegner Fellows of Stanford.

[Lesley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I originally thought this would be a 3 star book, but by page 113 I decided I had wasted enough time and put it on my "quit before the end" shelf. The writing was OK if very basic, but I just could not connect to the people or the slow story. Sorry, but I have so many good books waiting to be read!

[Lynn · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF, as the first 100 pages were full of trite commentary about the shortcomings of the entire group called 'men'.

[Lisa]

Suggested on back of "The Girl Who Fell from the Sky."

[Gwen Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Geriatric Jewish con artists--what's not to love?