Praise for His Hundred Years, A Tale

“A graceful, witty, and bittersweet story. In recounting the adventures of her irresistible, funny, and indomitable polyglot hero, Shalach Manot both recreates the world of Turkish Jewry and makes an original and compelling contribution to American immigrant literature.”
—Elisabeth Gitter, author of The Imprisoned Guest, winner of the Massachusetts Book Award for Nonfiction

“A fine, high, wonderful book, poised, pitch perfect. The voice is unflappable, unobtrusive yet always firmly in control and correct, the sweep of history done with impeccable ease and (for the reader) unending fascination.”
—Eric Larsen, author of An American Memory, winner of the Chicago Tribune’s Heartland Prize

“What a journey! His Hundred Years is rowdy and absorbing, modern and ancient, provocative and calm.”
—Tovah Feldshuh, actor of screen and stage

“With its crisp detail and dappled mosaic narrative, His Hundred Years is a Jewish immigrant tale with a difference—Sephardic, Turkish, Ladino... a finely written novel.”
—Morris Dickstein, author of Gates of Eden: American Culture in the Sixties, a New York Times Best Book.

“The ‘arsenic of frustration’ and the rush of love cooked into the same meal—many small portions create a reading feast in this tale by Shalach Manot. Nobody and somebody can change places in a second or a hundred years. This story shares the pain of exclusion, reminding us that sometimes we may be the ones doing the excluding. If our survival depends on our ability to see the world from the perspective of ‘the other,’ His Hundred Years is an exercise that beautifully illuminates the life forces that shape us.”
—Reiner Leist, author of American Portraits and Another Country

“A beautifully compelling family drama set in Turkey and New York. This is a very Turkish novel, and calls to mind the work of Orhan Pamuk. It is that good!”
—Ari Goldman, author of The Search for God at Harvard

“An extraordinary story told in an unusual way. As in oral folktales, events are transmitted to us through the mediation of a storyteller. But the stream of the narration is modern, non-linear. Combining the elements of two traditions, the oral folktale and the modern novel, Shalach Manot offers us something truly innovative.”
—Eliezer Papo, Director, The Sephardic Studies Research Institute, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

“This fascinating book by gifted writer and story teller Shalach Manot reflects on the life of an unusual Sephardic man, his childhood in Turkey, and later, his adaptation to life in America. We come away with a deeper understanding of the Sephardic immigrant experience during the 20th century.”
—Marc D. Angel, author of The Crown of Solomon and Other Stories

“Shalach Manot’s tale is an extraordinary book of hours, sparklingly composed of twenty-eight jeweled miniatures.”
—Rickie Solinger, New York Times Notable historian

“Idiosyncratic, memorable—a pleasure!”
—Kelly Anderson, director of the documentary, My Brooklyn

“Sensitive and gripping portraits of diverse Turkish Jewish women caught in a patriarchal system.”
—Gloria J. Ascher, Founder of Judaic Studies and Professor emerita, Tufts University

“Turkish Delight”
—Sarah Aroeste, Ladino singer/songwriter
Read the review in >Jewish Currents »