Synopsis
A young Irish Catholic boy growing up in Brooklyn makes a deal with a rabbi in his neighborhood: Michael will teach Rabbi Hirsch about baseball and help him improve his English; in return, the rabbi will teach the boy Yiddish. This strange compact ends in Michael's beating by Frankie the local bully, followed by his mystical revenge.

Details
Publication Date:	1997-05-01

Size
Length:	327 pages
Height:	10 in
Width:	6.5 in
Thickness:	1.2 in
Weight:	20 oz

Publisher's Note
An unlikely friendship between an eleven-year-old Irish Catholic boy and a lonely rabbi from Prague in 1947 Brooklyn has the two opening new windows of understanding with each other but still fighting the prejudices of the day

Pete Hamill's new novel, Snow in August, evokes with memorable intensity the exquisite joys, pains, and mysteries of youth. Set in a working-class Brooklyn neighborhood in 1947, this poignant tale revolves around two of the most endearing characters in recent fiction: an eleven-year-old Irish Catholic boy named Michael Devlin and Rabbi Judah Hirsch, a refugee from Prague. From their initial chance encounter in a swirling blizzard one Saturday morning to the mute awe they share at first setting eyes on the hallowed grounds of Ebbets Field, Hamill brings to life the richness and complexity of this most remarkable friendship. For Michael, the rabbi's stories of ancient magic and wisdom captivate his imagination and transport him to times and places even his beloved comic book heroes have never visited. For the rabbi, Michael's patient instruction on the language of baseball and American culture opens up an equally strange and magical world. A band of anti-Semitic toughs, however, see no place in their neighborhood for Jews or the people who associate with them. The threats of these hooligans are not idle, and soon Michael and Rabbi Hirsch are trapped in a dangerous spiral of hate in which there is only one hope...a miracle. Poised gracefully between fantasy and reality, Snow in August is a beautifully crafted tale of friendship, loyalty, Brooklyn, and the remarkable power of words. "And love," as the rabbi eloquently notes, "is almost always about words."

Set in a working-class Brooklyn neighborhood in 1947, this poignant tale revolves around two of the most endearing characters in recent fiction: an eleven-year-old Irish Catholic boy named Michael Devlin and Rabbi Judah Hirsch, a refugee from Prague. From their initial chance encounter in a swirling blizzard one Saturday morning to the mute awe they share at first setting eyes on the hallowed grounds of Ebbets Field, Hamill brings to life the richness and complexity of this most remarkable friendship. For Michael, the rabbi's stories of ancient magic and wisdom captivate his imagination and transport him to times and places even his beloved comic book heroes have never visited. For the rabbi, Michael's patient instruction on the language of baseball and American culture opens up an equally strange and magical world.

Industry Reviews
"Although conventional in form, 'Snow in August' takes many risks, often approaching the brinks of sentimentality and cuteness without ever going over."
New York Times - Christopher Lehmann-Haupt (05/01/1997)

"Somewhere between the Brooklyns of Chaim Potok and Spike Lee lies Pete Hamill's brawling, brokenhearted borough, as gritty, sentimental, and ultimately optimistic as its creator....In his blunt, didactic, pleasing style, Mr. Hamill has told version of this story many times, in fiction and journalism. But in his new novel...Mr. Hamill adds magic. This time, salvation is not in the Dodgers and Jackie, it is in the kabbala and the golem....For all the violent set pieces...there is a wonderful sweetness to this novel."
New York Times Book Review - Robert Lipsyte (05/04/1997)