Light Fell

September 3, 2007
When literature professor Joseph Licht invites his five adult sons to celebrate his 50th birthday in 1996 Tel Aviv, he hopes to win his boys' love and forgiveness by plying them with their favorite foods. From that opening in Fallenberg's ambitious debut, Joseph's life unfolds in retrospect: 20 years earlier, as a married father of five, Joseph discovers he is gay as he falls in love with a charismatic, and married, rabbi. The rabbi kills himself not long after he and Joseph start their affair, and a crushed Joseph, in one fell swoop, jettisons his marriage and adherence to Modern Orthodox Judaism. The familial repercussions are myriad and extreme, leaving Joseph's wife bereft and his sons with issues that range from low self-esteem and lack of trust to fanatical nationalism and religiosity. While Joseph and the rabbi's lovemaking is sentimentalized, and Joseph's and one son's homosexual awakenings seem abrupt, Fallenberg's descriptions of Israeli life, from the rural and academic arenas to the gay milieu, are credible and absorbing. The book adroitly sketches the heartfelt struggles of a sympathetic cast.

November 1, 2007
Fallenberg (creative writing, Bar-Ilan Univ., Israel), who has translated the works of several renowned Israeli authors, presents his first novel, which takes place in 1996 Tel Aviv on the eve of literature professor Joseph Licht's 50th birthday. As Joseph prepares to reunite with his five sons for the first time in 20 years since he left their mother for a prominent male rabbi, flashbacks enlighten us as to the circumstances of his choice as well as to the characters of his sons, who serve as a bizarre microcosm of Israeli society, ranging from the completely secular to the ultra-Orthodox. After so much buildup, the denouement feels somewhat rushed, and several characters are little more than stereotypes. But Joseph's story, in which he eventually realizes his desires, is a compelling one. Recommended for general fiction collections.Alicia Korenman, Florida State Univ. Lib., Tallahassee

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2007
Fifty-year-old Joseph, who passes for 38 on a really good day, prepares an extensive menu of traditional Sabbot dishes for the first reunion with his five sons in the 20 years since he fell in love with Yoel, a rabbi, and left his children, their mother, and his old life behind. A Harvard scholar, Joseph returned to Israel after Yoels intense gaze caught his, and the two men found themselves discussing the book Yoel was writing, an exploration of the Torah expression nafal nehora, meaning light fell or light was sown, especially when applied to sexual attraction, the enlightening fire raging within. A life-changing kiss, then soul-merging passion, and now, through the sweat and suffering of preparing this commemorative meal (along with observing the divorce decree forbidding him visits with more than three of his sons concurrently), Joseph has earned this reunion, hasnt he? Fallenbergs smoothly flowing observations of father-son bonds and of love of many kinds resonates on many levels.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)