The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green

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Summary: The Unforgettable Book of Joshua Braff
Review: After seeing the movie Garden State and becoming completely addicted, I have been checking Zach Braff's blog that he is keeping. In it, he suggested (of course) The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green, written by his brother, Joshua. Once again, a Braff brother has amazed me! The characters in Braff's book make the plot line even more interesting. Although I am not male, or Jewish, or from New Jersey, I felt that every character had an aspect of his or her personality that I could directly relate to.

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Summary: A charming funny read, although excessively sacrilegious!
Review: I found Joshua Braff's novel debut to be a charming, laugh-out-loud funny read, although excessively sacrilegious at times for my own personal liking (leave all that to Jacob's rebellious brother Asher). I was reminded of the movie Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle which included two Jews smoking pot out of a shofar whose apartment door was graced with a naked-woman-mezuza improperly affixed to the left side. You get the idea?... Well, similar improper (although, yes, I admit, often hysterical) sacrilegious aspects make their way into this book too, as you'll discover with Asher's great drawing abilities and his choice of garb when otherwise only dressed in his birthday suit. Alas, if only Asher could learn to harmonize the elusive skill of being both Jewish and ghetto.

Anyhow, it isn't Asher about whom the book revolves, but his younger brother Jacob, told in first person account from three different stages in his coming of age- ages ten, thirteen, and fifteen. Key themes involve his growing interest in the opposite sex further provoked through the house boarder Megan, Jacob's complicated relationship with his demanding, abusive yet loving father, and the general angst of teenagers in their process of making their own way... in self-discovery.

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Summary: Another talented Braff!
Review: I was inspired to pick this book up after learning of it's existance from a short article in "people" magazine about brothers Zach and Joshua Braff and their Movie and Novel debuts.
I had already seen and fallen in love with Garden State so I figured a book, by another member of the Braff family would be a safe bet for a good read. I was lucky enough to find that B. Dalton at my local mall had recieved a few copies earlier than scheduled and so I picked it up two days ago and I just finished reading it this morning and I have come to the conclusion that the Braff family is one of admirable story telling ability. The book is hilarious where intended and yet still able to maintain a tone of seriousness when neccessary. Braff's descriptions of friends and family members are perfect, causing me to ponder on the similarities between the charecters in the book and people I know in my life. All in all, I'd say it's a definite must read for anyone. Go buy this book NOW!

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Summary: Dysfunctional Family Horrors And (Some) Laughs
Review: Jacob Green is ten years old when the story opens, recently diagnosed with ADHD and a learning disability, but he has one redeeming gift--he reads Hebrew beauitfully. Asher is his older brother, hero and role model, a gifted artist in full-blown rebellion against their father and everything he stands for. Abram is the father--a man who fancies himself as an actor, an impresario, a great pillar of the Jewish community--but who actually is a fragile narcissistic personality. His self-esteem depends on getting his family to perform and bring him glory.

Need it be said? This is a very dysfunctional family, and over the next five years things go from bad to much much worse. The parents split up, Asher moves out, Mom has a new boyfriend, Dad has a new girlfriend who drags him to est weekends, and Jacob is desperately looking for a way out. Oh, and struggles with his relationship to Judaism. And with sex. Oh yes, sexual awakening plays a big role. Of course.

Author Joshua Braff is a compelling writer, who grabs your attention and keeps you turning the pages. The book reads like a mixture of Phillip Roth and Adrian Mole. Some passages are hilarious, especially when Jacob's Thank-You notes for his bar mitzva presents turn into private rants about his inner life. The downside? Abusive families aren't really funny any more. The father, with his constant need for control and domination, goes from amusing to horrifying. The author lays on the psychology a little thick. It becomes hard to stay with this family.

So, how does it turn out? Do the Greens manage to patch things together? Does Jacob escape from the madness? Does the father come to his senses? You will have to read the book to find out. I recommend it. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.

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Summary: Braff is brilliant
Review: The latest book from Josh Braff is an excellent read and a "must-read" for any Jews growing up in the 70's, as his description of the struggles with religion, culture, and parental pleasing are painfully raw and true. Josh Braff just might be the next Phillip Roth, in that Jew-from-Jersey-kind of way.

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Summary: The Braff Family Rocks
Review: This book is so fantastic, I wanted to give it 5 stars but I reserve 5 stars for such things as chocolate cake. There's an incredible amount of emotion displayed in this novel, yet Joshua Braff doesn't go over the top. Behaviors and reactions are honest and there are quite a few moments where you find yourself relating, Jewish or no. There's humor in a book that tells a somewhat sad story, and I think that anyone and everyone should pick up a copy.

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Summary: Reads like a memoir
Review: What a brilliant character Jacob Green is. I enjoyed almost every minute of this novel, which had me alternately laughing at and despairing with the title character. Very fast-paced until the last 50 pages or so, where it sort of started to lose me a little. Altogether an enjoyable read that will be one I will always remember.

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Summary: Unthinkable and un-put-downable
Review: What other book has bar mitzvah thank-you notes as a major plot element? Well, they do in "The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green," a quirky coming-of-age story in 1970s New Jersey. Like his equally talented brother Zach (director/star/writer of "Garden State"), Joshua Braff shines in his heart-tugging, funny first novel.

Jacob Green dreams of an ideal Jewish family, but unfortunately he's got a wildly dysfunctional one instead. His father Abram is an ideal host and father to the world -- but in his home he's an emotionally abusive perfectionist. Since Jacob has a learning disability, he gets the brunt of his father's wrath. Abram calls him an "idiot" and "retard," even though Jacob is clearly a bright young boy.

His father's irrational rages cause Jacob to withdraw into his own imagination, especially since his worn-out mother Claire has fallen in love with her professor. His "unthinkable thoughts" center on his school, his religion, and his lust for the nanny. And it's only through his fantasies on "the unthinkable" that he can deal with his disintegrating family life.

Family relationships are complex enough when the family is what passes for normal. If they're strange -- forget it. Remember what Tolstoy said: "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." It's a credit to Braff that he can make what seems like a very depressing novel so incredibly funny. And were it not for the endearing Jacob and his quirky fantasies, it probably would be very depressing.

Braff has an irreverent, quick kind of prose, with a mixture of darker problems and full-blown comedy (such as Jacob's brother drawing a picture of a rabbi in a threesome with a pig and lobster). The balance between darkness and humor is just perfect. And he makes no apologies for his politically incorrect jokes -- which makes them even more hilarious.

Jacob himself is a lovable character, eager to please and with a sort of naughty innocence. His fantasies are reflections what he wants to do, and that makes them even more poignant. Abram is both amusing and disturbing, given his tendency to blow up about trivialities. Supporting characters like brother Asher and Claire are pretty interesting as well, but the book belongs to Jacob.

"The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green" is hysterical and heartbreaking, a look at a crumbling family and the unique young boy in the middle of it. A must-read, and one of the best books of 2004.

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Summary: every word a jewel.. polish it (off)
Review: What sort of insane family did Zach and Jacob Braff grow up in? Actor Zach wrote and starred in the film GARDEN STATE which has a distant Jewish father; and now his older brother has written this novel, a coming of age tale set in an Orthodox Jewish New Jersey family with a Jewish father who craves attention without end, and rages more than a rage-a-holic. Not even EST can calm him. Assuming there might be a kernel of truth in this book, a word to the wise. If you ever meet either Braff brothers, don't go near their Challahs. God knows where its been or what nefarious bonking they did with it.

It's 1977, Jacob Green, a Jewish kid from suburban New Jersey, sits on the stairs during his family's housewarming party, waiting for his father, Abram to introduce him to the crowd - who already knows him - as the favorite lovely blonde son. Parties punctuate the family's life, but so do the rages (if only they were raves) of Daddy Dearest, Abram Green. He is a tyrant, filled with rage and a penchant for rules and tearing clothes that are not perfect. In order to escape, Jacob thinks hilarious thoughts. He fantasizes about sex ed with the live-in nanny; he fantasizes about his challah. His bar mitzvah thank you notes, if they weren't proofed, would detail his lust for the nanny. Sadly they are filled with spelling errors, since Jacob has a learning challenge. If only his mother hadn't chosen grad school over the kids. Why couldn't it be Jacob who got expelled from Hebrew School. His older brother, Asher, was expelled for drawing his rabbi in a threesome with an erect pig and a tasty lobster (plus there was the one with the (...). You get the idea? The book is a fun read with outrageous and outlandish antics and fantasies. As the tension builds, you wonder whther Jacob can confront his father and tell him he doesn't want to sing in synagogues anymore. Can he be a perfect son to his demanding father? Is it any surprise that a key scene is played out around the Shabbat of Parshat Naso, a torah reading that refers to two brothers, Judah being superior to Benjamin, a wife accused of adultery, and how bitterness or bitter waters can ruin a marriage and a family. The book is worth a read even if you only read Jacob's highly creative thank you notes for his Bar Mitzvah gifts.