Rating: 
Summary: Great writing style - unnecessarily cynical though.
Review: OK, Nathan Englander can write and he knows about our orthodox world from the inside. But Nathan, find the good in things, in people, in situations. Where is the love? I am reminded of the saying that "Any rav (rabbi) can declare a chicken tref (unkosher), but it takes a talmid chochom (very learned one) to declare one kosher." By comparison, Isaac Singer does manage to find the inner beauty of his characters. Tevya of "Fiddler on the Roof" has a beautiful soul, which is shared with the reader. So could have Nathan's wigmaker, writer, and frustrated husband characters, but this component is missing. Perhaps this will come as Nathan Englander matures. Nevertheless, buy and enjoy his books now, but know that this is not the deepest reality. I'm can't wait to read more of Nathan Englander when he shares awe, ecstasy, purity, kindness and the positive depth of humanity.
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Summary: Ever heard of Junot Diaz?
Review: Nathan Englander's stories are well crafted, some of them very moving, all of them easy to understand and "exotic" in their setting of the very orthodox Jewish world. It's a bit surprising that they are so intensly hyped, these stories aren't as astounding as you're lead to believe before you read them (but in all honesty -- how could they be?) They are exotic, though, and reminded me in certain ways of Junot Diaz's excellent debut collection which were also very well-crafted, emotionally resonant stories. Englander owes many debts to Singer as well as the brilliant Isaac Babel (the opening story in the collection reads like an hommage to Babel's work) and Roth, too. His debut seems very much like the debut of a talented, hard working beginner. His work is derivative (as is most early work) and at the end of FOR THE RELIEF the jury is still very much out on Englander's future. Many great writers have debuted with less impressive work, many mediocre ones with work this accomplished. We have to sincerely hope that Englander doesn't have the same fate as Junot Diaz and become tongue tied (pen tied?) by all the unwarranted hype over his collection. Still an interesting read, but not neccesary to own. Wait for the paperback or take it out of the library.
Rating: 
Summary: Seriously flawed fiction
Review: From "The Guardian"'s review: The Guardian; Manchester; May 22, 1999; CHARLOTTE MENDELSON; "For the Relief of Unbearable Urges," Nathan Englander's first work, offers an unusual insight into Yiddish culture, focusing on the largely peaceful existence of contemporary American Orthodox Jews. The lives he describes combine modern frictions with the -to our eyes - fabulously old-fashioned reality of Orthodox life: a man consigned to psychiatric care after an incident with the Torah; a wig-maker furtively scanning the unseemly pages of a fashion magazine; a woman torn between kabbalist, matchmaker and assassin as a means to divorce. Folk wisdom, beleaguered tradition and hi-tech ethnicity: it is no surprise that in the US, land of touch-tone phone numerology and rabbinically-bearded Santas, his debut was rapturously greeted. The collection begins with a promising, if anomalous, story in which incarcerated Yiddish authors begin a spontaneous authors' symposium, discussing reviews and literary rivals even as their Stalinist torturers prepare the instruments. There is grim amusement here in totalitarian doublethink. The only other story with a historical backdrop, `The Tumblers', about a troupe of mock acrobats en route for the gas chambers, similarly depicts hopeless courage and resourcefulness in the face of repression. This combination of darkness and humour also flavours the stories set in present-day New York, where Englander grew up. In `The Gilgul of Park Avenue', a WASP has an epiphany: he is, spiritually, an orthodox Jew. Reduced to stealing religious paraphernalia, he rides the lift for hours on the Sabbath, forbidden by the laws of observance from pressing the button for his floor. It is a richly comic idea, but the story is notable chiefly for its unfulfilled potential. Even the climax of the story, a doomed kosher dinner-party, is markedly undramatic and therefore uncompelling. Similarly, the protagonist of `Reunion' is little more than a textbook madman, and the amply signposted failure of his family gathering is hardly a surprise. A series of weak endings is partly responsible for this recurring sense of just-missed opportunities. In at least six of his nine tales, he strands the reader just after the climax, substituting a moment of semi-mystical confusion for some sort of resolution, tragic or hopeful. Frustratingly, therefore, no clue is given to the fate of the new Jew, or the tumblers performing before Nazi luminaries. The low-key title story, in which a sexually frustrated man is permitted to visit a prostitute, also tails off unsatisfyingly, and is weakened further by Englander's limited focus. Little sense is given of the chaste wife, the marriage or the prostitute; the man's sexual helplessness is touchingly portrayed but doesn't amount to quite enough. In `The Wig', a sketchily-described wig-maker's moment of beauty is briefly, almost cursorily conveyed, as are the motivations and mind of the hirsute heroine of `The Last One Way', whose interest lies in her manipulations for a divorce. Indeed, almost every story involving women is touched with misogyny. At best, wives are tough husband-chastisers or good seamstresses, attractive only when enhanced with fake hair or blue lenses. Men are the heroes, the humans, the sufferers, always misunderstood, helplessly, selflessly loving women. In the last story, a first- person account of a Jerusalem bombing, even the presumably desirable girlfriend and admired female reporter are walk-on supplements to the male narrator's viewpoint. Despite some plain, verging on dull, phrasing, such as `nice and cool' face cream, Englander's storytelling is fluent, confident and includes some likeable details -Stalin's easy murdering of `the outspoken wives of very dear friends', for example, or the tired ex- beauty whose nightly ambition is `to look in the mirror and be sad'. With his stories' palatable combination of exoticism, human weakness, light comedy and a touch of suffering, it is easy to see why he is being greeted like a prodigal son. However, despite the overexcited claims being made for him, his debut displays neither Singer's realism, magic and humanity, nor the beguiling brilliance of Roth and Bellow. Lumping-together by race is dubious at best; Englander is their true heir in little else.
Rating: 
Summary: New Jewish talent and some offbeat stories
Review: I was taken with several of the stories in this collection, which took me to a world (Orthodox Judaism) that I know little about. I noted the comparisons to the great Isaac Bashevis Singer with interest---and I would agree there seems to be an influence there---but the story of the Gentile who becomes a Jew during an epiphany in a NYC taxicab reminded me very much of one of my favorite stories, Philip Roth's "Eli The Fanatic." Read the two of them together; they are excellent explorations of the same fascinating subject, finding religion---and an offbeat one, at that! I will be watching Englander's career; he could become another Singer, another Roth, or his own unique self.
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Summary: One Genuine Classic Story--"The 27th Man"
Review: I am less enthusiastic about the other stories in this collection, but this book contains one genuine, great soon-to-be-regarded-as-a-classic story--"The 27th Man." It is one of the most memorable short stories of the waning 20th century. Read it; just read it.
Rating:
Summary: extraordinary new talent
Review: I echo the accolades of my fellow readers and the professional critics. The only shortcoming in this remarkable collection is an inability to quite know how to end most of the stories. However, the last few sentences of the "27th Man" is one of the most powerful and brilliant passages I have ever read.
Rating: 
Summary: Superbly written! Original, moving, elegant and spritual.
Review: I have never before been moved to write comments either to an author or about a book. This is an exception. I was so captivated by the themes, the sensitivity and the magnificence of the writing. This is a work that stands out in a genre already rich with brilliant authors and writing. Nathan Englander is an author who surely will be ranked among the outstanding writers of our time, and my message to him would be to nurture himself and his talent so that he can remain a literary treasure to us for a long time. I wait enthusiastically for his next story or novel. "Kol Hakavod"
Rating:
Summary: Worth the price for the First Story Alone
Review: I'm from the UK, a full-time author, and write literary fiction and shorts. I bought Nathan's book partly because of the hype (who doesn't want to know?) and partly because one editor I knew had taken a story of his and was singing his praises. Whatever, I read "The 27th Man" and utterly, utterly loved it. I've been telling people I can't think of a short which moved me more. I've even said it's the best short I've ever read (which it is) but then there's an awful lot of good stuff I haven't read. Elsewhere I see people raving about "The Lottery". if that's five stars then "The Twenty-Seventh man" will have to be measured in galaxies. If I had written this one story I could die happy. Well, done Nathan Englander.
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Summary: Englander pushes Jewish civilization another level higher
Review: Just finished reading Englander's book and I wanted more, much more but had to content myself with a mere nine stories. His debut is remarkable in that the stories are truly literary, enjoyable, lucid and poetic, but he also pushes Jewish understanding and civilization to greater heights. There are weak moments in some of his tales, but they aren't significant enough to mar the general shine his book creates. Due to his age and circumstance, Englander represents the new generation of post-Holocaust, post-Zionist and post-Assimilation Jewish Literature. His stories strive to mitigate orthodoxy with contemporary life in the United States, he seeks to understand Ashkenazi cultural history in multiple contexts (old world and new, even with a dash of Israel) and he succeeds in giving new life to Chelm, new life to Americans who continue to wrestle with God. Englander's sensitivity and knowledge make comparisons to the great IB Singer all too easy; Nathan Englander is his own man and a welcome author to continue an already rich but perhaps slackening Ashkenazic literary tradition. As a reader commented before me, I can't wait to line my shelves with his works, share them with my friends and hand them down to my children. Toda raba for "Natan" Englander!
Rating:
Summary: let's be thankful for the "human" prose
Review: These are mature, inspired, compassionate stories. Is 28 year old Englander overhyped? I don't think so. He has written remarkable,complex tales of mid life spiritual crisis and survival, with political and philosophic acuity. It's true there are 4 heavy weight stories out of 9, but they're all the product of a talent. Don't dismiss too quickly the final groping piece, In This Way We Are Wise. The only piece written in the first person by "Natan", who lives in Jerusalem,this seems less like a failed story than like his diary from hell, sentence shards and fragments, exploded text. What could be a more haunting end to this book? He's giving us a rare glimpse of the writer hard at work -- working to survive,to form overwraught sentences instead of surrendering to the alternative silence,to collect some shred of coherence from war's chaos. This is truth that precedes story.One day he may give us a controlled, linear, precise story about terrorism and dying, but for now he chooses to present life over art,giving us all he's got: a few flailing words.Instead of scorning this "lesser" prose,let's pray to any god we have that this man continues to dodge the bombs and that he keeps writing, writing, writing. Good luck, Nathan.
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