Set in post-Giuliani New York City, The Sea Beach Line melds mid-20th-
century pulp fiction and traditional Jewish folklore as it updates the
classic story of a young man trying to find his place in the world.
After being expelled from Oberlin for hallucinogenic drug use, Izzy Edel
seeks out his estranged father--a Polish Jew turned Israeli soldier
turned New York street vendor named Alojzy who is reported to be
missing, possibly dead. To learn about Alojzy's life and discover the
truth behind his disappearance, Izzy takes over his father's outdoor
bookselling business and meets the hustlers, gangsters, and members of a
religious sect who peopled his father's world. He also falls in love.
As Izzy soon discovers, appearances can deceive; no one, not even his
own father, is quite whom he seems to be. Vowing to prove himself equal
to Alojzy's legacy of fearlessness, Izzy plunges forward on a criminal
enterprise that will bring him answers--at great personal cost.
Fans of Jonathan Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn, Nathan Englander's For
the Relief of Unbearable Urges, and Michael Chabon's The Yiddish
Policemen's Union will relish to Ben Nadler's combined mystery, love
story, and homage to text and custom.
