March 31-April 6, 2005

artpicks

Green Mind

Walking in on a conversation you were obviously not meant to be a part of can be funny, but most of the time it's cringe-worthy. Joshua Braff knows how to make readers squirm. He pulls no punches with his fly-on-wall storytelling and scenarios equally painful and hysterical. His debut novel, The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green (Algonquin), follows a dysfunctional Orthodox Jewish family during the 1970s. Braff, 37, is the older brother of Zach, of Garden State and Scrubs fame. Yes, this is another tale set in suburban New Jersey. Just please leave those expectations at the Green family door.

Jacob's (Ya'akov in Hebrew) thoughts are often told though a series of amusing bar mitzvah thank-you notes and angst-ridden letters to his 21-year-old live-in nanny and reluctant sex-ed instructor. Jacob adores Asher, his older brother, for the one thing Jacob cannot do: Stand up to his father's irrational tirades and lofty expectations. While father Abram is uncomfortably overbearing, mother Claire is withdrawn, pursuing a Ph.D. and another man. The polarizing nature of his parents' behavior leaves Jacob with more unthinkable questions than answers. Braff is most successful with matters of the human condition and especially the pubescent mind, with the effect that readers feel both empathy and nostalgia — even for moments they might rather forget.

Joshua Braff reads Sat., April 2, 2 p.m., free, Penn Bookstore, 3601 Walnut St., 215-898-7595.

—D.J. Short

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