Breakfast with the Ones You Love

The standup comedy of Fintushel's stage work echoes through his debut novel, a highly original, seriously skewed take on kabbalistic lore, like a shofar on Yom Kippur. Lea Tillim, a 16-year-old runaway, has a psychic "talent" that allows her to kill anyone who gets in her way. She begins to blossom after she rescues Jack "the Yid" Konar, a smalltime drug dealer who also happens to be "the Chosen of the Chosen of the Chosen." The Yid has constructed a mystical spaceship—complete with a Fleshpot and the Holy of Holies—to transport the select few to the true Ish-ra-el . As Lea aids Jack on his quest, she gets stoned, receives epiphanies, is chased by the mob, is befriended by an adorably whiny minyan, helps foil the Evil One and his marquetry ladies and teams with an unlikely multitude from various religious persuasions. Though Lea's voice wanders from infatuated teen to world-weary kvetch, this uneven coming-of-age story is a virtual cornucopia of strange delights. (Mar.)