Not first generation but seemingly more than one removed from todaysprotagonizing Portnoys meet Jake Gottlieb with lots of courage enterpriseand that chin he l... » 

Not first generation but seemingly more than one removed from todaysprotagonizing Portnoys meet Jake Gottlieb with lots of courage enterpriseand that chin he leads with. Modeled on Lenin Eugene Debs and JudahMaccabeus he works for a laundry counting sheets spreading cockroaches andOrganizing a more than year long strike. This takes place in the Detroit of1939 while Hitler is shaping up Germany and is seen through the eyes of Jakesyounger boy Vic who lives under the shadow of his father anal a year olderbrother. Except for one longish stretch in the middle there are nice momentsof childhood candy bars Saturday afternoons at the movies and the Tigerswinning a pennant And more tragic ones as Jake continues his embattled fightagainst Atlas Laundry and Linen Supply and one OBrien who will take the lifeof his friend Sammy Persky. And ultimately his own when Jakes disappearanceextends into two weeks hes found at the bottom of a lake.... A sturdier bookthan To the Hanging Gardens 1964 seemingly told just as it was with punchyconviction and resilient humor. Kirkus Reviews «