The Trick: A Novel

A deeply moving, humorous tale of a young boy who believes in everything and an old male who believes in nothing.In 1934, a rabbi's son in Prague signs up with a taking a trip circus, ends up being a magician, and climbs to popularity under the stage name the Great Zabbatini just as Europe descends right into The second world war. When Zabbatini is discovered to be a Jew, his battered trunk filled with magic methods becomes his only hope of making it through the concentration camp where he is sent.

7 years later on in Los Angeles, ten-year-old Max finds a scratched-up LP that recorded Zabbatini executing his greatest methods. Yet the track in which Zabbatini executes his love spell-- the spell Max thinks will maintain his degenerating family with each other-- is damaged beyond repair. Desperate for a remedy, Max seeks the now elderly, cynical illusionist and begs him to execute his magic on his moms and dads. As both develop a not likely relationship, Moshe finds that Max and his family have an unusual connection to the dark, dark days the Great Zabbatini experienced during the battle.

Remembering the melancholy wit of Isaac Bashevis Singer and the heartbreaking pathos of the movie Life is Attractive-- this exceptional first novel is at once a tongue-in-cheek yet deeply moving tale regarding a young kid who believes in magic and a frustrated old male who believes in absolutely nothing, as well as a gripping and heartfelt tale regarding the circle of life.