Pinto and Sons

by Leslie Epstein

Expelled from medical school, Adolph Pinto travels to California's gold mines where fortune eludes him but where he becomes a peddler and a teacher of Native American children

Genres: Fiction

419 pages, Paperback

First published November 7, 1990

About the author

Leslie Donald Epstein was an American educator, essayist, and novelist.

Reviews

[Lindy Foster · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't finish this book, which is a rarity for me. It began to seem pretty formulaic: naive protagonist gets involved in all kinds of historical events. It seemed too Forrest-Gump (although it does predate that). I had checked it out of the library, and when I wasn't even halfway through and the due date came along, I just returned it.

[Karen Mead · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a deeply unpleasant book. That probably sounds like a slam, but in a strange way, the unpleasantness is welcome; so many portrayals of the Old West are romanticized that seeing it portrayed the way Epstein does here-- as primitive, dirty, and grotesquely violent-- is kind of refreshing.

Still, I could never quite get a handle on this tale of scientific experimentation during the California Gold Rush. The back flap calls the book a "black comedy", but I found it rather short on humor. A few things are broadly funny, like the fact that the tribe of Native American children start speaking with Scottish accents since the only book the eponymous Pinto has to teach them with is a book of Scottish poems. Still, for the most part, most of what's happening is too horrible to be funny, except perhaps in the manner of the deepest, darkest, gallows humor. Mostly though, everyone is dying gruesomely or barely surviving, so it's a pretty sad tale overall.

I'm still kind of scratching my head about what to make of this book. It is unique, I'll give it that; I can't say I've read too many books featuring transplanted Hungarian Jews teaching Native American children all about the Scientific Method during the Gold Rush, and I doubt I'll ever read another one. I'm just not sure what Epstein was trying to accomplish with this tale; there's something to be said for the contrast between the boundless optimism of Pinto, chomping at the bit to use science to make the world a better place, and the horror and depravity that increasingly surrounds him. It makes the book ironic, but I'm not sure if it has too much to offer beyond that.

All that said, I don't regret spending time with this book. Sometimes, it's good to read something completely out of left field and see what you make of it, and this book definitely qualifies. Plus the writing is fairly fluid, meaning the pages turn easily-- even when their content is far from easy to digest.

[Fred · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel a bit bad for giving this a low rating, because I only stuck with the book for its first section. I had looked forward to reading it based on a NYT book review that I read at the time it was published. Probably if I had read it then, when my tastes were more in line with the more outsized, historical absurdity of the book, I would have enjoyed it more. I did find the sections I read very memorable and well drawn. It was the narrator, a wide-eyed and naive innocent, that I found most objectionable. Again, that's in large part because I find that point of view annoying. This book appears to have many things in common with Little Big Man, another sprawling, historical romp, and The Sot Weed Factor, both of which I love. But I just found the rhythms of the storytelling to be a bit off-putting. I will say, however, that I read through the first section for its descriptions of Boston in the 19th century, and those were quite interesting, especially if you live in the area. Epstein is a skilled writer, and therefore I feel that I can recommend the book for others, just not for myself.

[Michael C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bit of farcical, slapstick fun. A neurotic and passionate narrator leading a band of Native American children speaking in the poetic Scottish of Robert Burns while trying to create a vaccine for rabies in the belly of a deadly mine. I always enjoy when I feel like I'm learning new things while reading fiction and the details of the historical/scientific/medical elements of this novel definitely achieve that. Lots of wacky scenes and even some heart-wrenching ones.