I Pity the Poor Immigrant

The notorious gangster Meyer Lansky is the ostensible subject of this complex novel. Lazar uses some details from Lansky’s real life (as a Jew, he sought refuge from American law enforcement in Israel, but was eventually extradited) to explore the nature of history itself, mixing fact and fiction as he did in his 2011 novel, Sway. Journalist Hannah Groff writes a story about the murder of an Israeli poet named David Bellen, who had written a book “in which the biblical King David is presented in the guise of a 20th-century gangster.” Groff’s article leads her to Gila Konig, who says she was Lansky’s mistress in Israel (now living in New York). The book moves back and forth in time, point of view, and even genre (large chunks are written in the New Journalism style, mixing the personal with the factual). Lazar juggles the elliptical and fragmented narrative effectively; he is also an excellent stylist, cleverly mimicking multiple forms. The author ambitiously makes a point about history—public and personal—and how it can lead to unexpected byways. As Groff notes, “Against our deepest wishes, we become suddenly, inexplicably, committed to a path we had avoided, a line of thought we’d had no interest in.” An interesting and challenging novel. [em](Apr.) [/em]