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The Ministry of Special Cases | 
 enlarge | Author: Nathan Englander
Publisher: Knopf
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
Buy New: $3.33
You Save: $21.67 (87%)
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Rating:  23 reviews
Sales Rank: 23061
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.5 x 1.4
ISBN: 0375404937
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780375404931
ASIN: 0375404937
Publication Date: April 24, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The long-awaited novel from Nathan Englander, author of For the Relief of Unbearable Urges. Englander’s wondrous and much-heralded collection of stories won the 2000 Pen/Malamud Award and was translated into more than a dozen languages.
From its unforgettable opening scene in the darkness of a forgotten cemetery in Buenos Aires, The Ministry of Special Cases casts a powerful spell. In the heart of Argentina’s Dirty War, Kaddish Poznan struggles with a son who won’t accept him; strives for a wife who forever saves him; and spends his nights protecting the good name of a community that denies his existence--and denies a checkered history that only Kaddish holds dear. When the nightmare of the disappeared children brings the Poznan family to its knees, they are thrust into the unyielding corridors of the Ministry of Special Cases, the refuge of last resort.
Nathan Englander’s first novel is a timeless story of fathers and sons. In a world turned upside down, where the past and the future, the nature of truth itself, all take shape according to a corrupt government’s whims, one man--one spectacularly hopeless man--fights to overcome his history and his name, and, if for only once in his life, to put things right. Here again are all the marvelous qualities for which Englander’s first book was immediately beloved: his exuberant wit and invention, his cosmic sense of the absurd, his genius for balancing joyfulness and despair. Through the devastation of a single family, Englander captures, indelibly, the grief of a nation. The Ministry of Special Cases, like Englander’s stories before it, is a celebration of our humanity, in all its weakness, and--despite that--hope.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 18 more reviews...
 "The troubles always start when they start for you." August 4, 2007
Gregory Baird (Morristown, NJ)
34 out of 36 found this review helpful
Set in the Argentina of 1976 - a dark and violent time of upheaval - "The Ministry of Special Cases" is about a family torn apart by a power-corrupted government. It centers primarily on the actions of Kaddish and Lillian Poznan after their teenaged son, Pato, is `disappeared' by mysterious officials one night, perhaps never to be seen again. Kaddish and Lillian are locked in a futile race against time, knowing that every day their son is missing the likelihood that he has not survived increases. But how can they penetrate the defenses of the government and the police to get information regarding a son whose existence is now denied? At best, Kaddish and Lillian are told that their son must have run away from them, and are advised to give up their search before making `needless' trouble. But the Poznans know the truth about Pato's disappearance - Kaddish was home when his son was escorted from their apartment by mysterious men, who also removed three of Pato's books that they had deemed inappropriate.
The search for their son leads Lillian to Argentina's Ministry of Special cases, where hundreds of people line up and fight for information about missing loved ones, and are frustrated by bureaucratic dead-ends. Worse than the government's unswerving apathy toward Kaddish and Lillian is the fearfully uncaring attitude that they find from general citizens they turn to for assistance. Everyone is too wrapped up in their own problems to care about the Poznan's plight - and much too afraid of losing their own family if they anger the government. Until their own son was taken from them Kaddish and Lillian themselves had been blind to the severity of the problem - Lillian is genuinely startled to find so many people waiting at the Ministry of Special Cases, and dismayed to hear from a couple that is finally giving up hope after two long years of no news.
The strength of Englander's story is that the Poznans are a believable family unit. They are not the utopian family of amateur fiction, but a realistic family burdened by animosity and failure and bitter disappointment. Kaddish is marked by his low birth - an `hijo de puta' who will never earn respect or dignity, and the spectacular failures of his numerous get-rich-quick schemes to overcome his status have put a great deal of strain on his marriage to Lillian, who had believed in his abilities as a young (naive?) young woman. And Pato is your typical disgruntled teenager; he hates his parents, acts out, runs away to his friends' home, smokes pot, and refuses to listen to their sage advice that could have kept him safe. And yet the reader feels the strength of their familial bond thanks to Englander's prodigious talents as a writer. Despite their fighting, it feels devastating when the Poznans are torn apart.
But is "The Ministry of Special Cases" for everyone? No. Englander is a gifted writer, but his eccentricities will turn some readers off as unnecessary and annoying. As a fan of Nathan Englander's story collection, For the Relief of Unbearable Urges: Stories, perhaps I was already primed for his style before picking this book up, but I enjoy his quirks and I have spoken to several other people who do too. For those who can appreciate them, "Ministry" is a one-of-a-kind treat and an amazing novel.
Grade: A-
 For Literary Intellectuals May 1, 2007
Eileen Pollock (New York, NY)
32 out of 76 found this review helpful
I wish there were a kind way to write a negative review. I am sure others will differ, but this story simply did not engage me on any level. The characters were to me caricatures, buffoons. The pervasive snarkiness and forced comedy made me feel nothing was serious to the author. I also found the vulgar language and dialogue personally alienating. I don't know any Jewish people who speak that way. Who in the world is Englander writing for? I know this book has achieved literary status of some sort among the intellectual circles that matter. I am only an ordinary reader and book buyer, but I was dismayed and hugely turned off by this intellectual, I assume highly literary enterprise.
Low Comedy and Sharp Wit Lead to Laughter, Tears, Sadness, Hope, Desolation, and Absolution July 2, 2007
Donald Mitchell (Boston)
18 out of 19 found this review helpful
Seldom has a novel commanded so many of my emotions. My heart felt like a piano on whose strings a master musician was playing both polkas and dirges. But most of all, Mr. Englander kept surprising me. I usually read mysteries to enjoy fictional surprises, but The Ministry of Special Cases provided many more surprises than any mystery I've read in recent years.
When I began reading the book, I had to stop and start over. I couldn't believe what I was reading. It's almost as though Hamlet started with the grave digger's scene.
How can I summarize this book? I'm not sure I can do so accurately, but I'll hit some of the right notes of I call this book Don Quixote at The Trial. In the process, Mr. Englander unerringly portrays a society that's failing because each person only wants to look out for himself or herself.
You will find yourself in Argentina during the beginning of the "dirty war" when many young people disappeared. What would it like to be a parent of such a young person? That's what you will graphically experience by reading The Ministry of Special Cases.
Kaddish Poznan was conceived through an accident between his prostitute mother and a customer. The rabbi granted Kaddish such an unusual name in hopes it would protect him. As the book evolves, you'll see that the name has indeed shaped his character as well as his actions. Many of the "respectable" Jews in Argentina at the time had forbearers who also engaged in illicit and illegal activities, while sporting colorful names such as Hezzi Two-Blades.
Kaddish has been looking for the big score all of his life, but hasn't found it. As the book opens, Kaddish is busy defacing a grave in the older part of the Jewish cemetery so that a connection to a dubious forbearer can be disguised. That's how Kaddish earns his cigarette money. His university student son, Pato, is a reluctant participant. Father and son are in continual conflict. Kaddish's wife, Lillian, supports the family by working hard for little pay in an insurance broker's office. Concerned about safety, she is soon out buying the strongest door she can locate.
I won't go into more of the story from there lest I give away important details, but you'll find the plot to be amazingly well constructed to open up unexpected doors to empathy and understanding as you identify with one or both of the parents and wonder what you would do to keep your youngster safe.
How can I summarize what I feel about the book? It's a masterpiece.
Great Fiction + Page-turner = Five Stars May 3, 2007
Mr. Peaches (New York, NY)
17 out of 23 found this review helpful
This universal story of identity and community takes my breath away. I've never read a book that was written so well and so economically that turned out to be such a quick-read, too. Word and phrase choices are meticulous and appropriate. All extraneous background and history has been stripped out leaving the narrative to resonate without distraction. The result is like an olympic sprinter in motion whose every move is perfected and with specific purpose. Englander's second book was well worth the wait. Bravo.
Full of Grace and Wisdom May 10, 2007
Amos Lassen (Little Rock, Arkansas)
13 out of 16 found this review helpful
Englander, Nathan. "The Ministry of Special Cases", Knopf, 2007.
Full of Grace and Knowledge
Amos Lassen ad Literary Pride
Set in 1976, Nathan Englander's "The Ministry of Special Cases" is a look at the "dirty war" in Argentina. Kaddish Pozan, the son of a "whore" makes a meager living by marring tombstones of Jewish prostitutes and pimps. Their children, who are doing just fine socially and financially, do not want to be reminded that their parents were immigrants or of their shameful occupations. Kaddish works at night in the cemetery while Lillian, his wife, labors at an insurance agency during the day and their son, Pato, goes to college, concerts and smokes marijuana with his amigos. Pato is suddenly taken away ad Kaddish learns what it is to have identity erased. It seems that Pato has been arrested and no one will admit that is the case. In fact, as far as anyone in authority is concerned, there is no proof that Pato even exists. Lillian and Kaddish make preparations to get into the Ministry of Special Cases and it is here that we, the readers, begin a journey into the depths of hell.
Rich in imagery and symbolism, "Ministry" is a sheer delight to read. It is a haunting look at the very worst scenarios in an attempt to erase knowledge of the existence of people on earth.
Englander's powerful prose exploring the nature of absence is a revelation.
When Kaddish discovers that his son is missing we learn a great deal about the nature of loss and gain an insight into the nature of the government of Argentina when it attempted to purge the country of what it called "desaparecidos". There are times when the novel takes an absurdist turn and the author's sense of humor and powerful writing tells of subjects that are almost unbearable with a comic punch. Yet, when we reach the end, we are dealt quite a blow.
It is interesting to note that a novel that deals with human absence and government misrule can be as funny as this is. How is it possible for the government of Argentina can erase both the future and the past? At other times the book s horrifying as the obliteration of a culture and families is attempted by a government which seeks absolute power.
Englander successfully layers the tradition of the Jewish people with Argentinean obliteration.
The juxtaposition of comedy and heartbreak is fascinating and a book that first appears to be quite a simple story deceptively fools the reader--we are not really reading about a lost child but about the loss of an entire community and its faith. As the plot continues to unfold, we are not even sure what disappearance means. There is pathos and ethos in this wonderful book as well as a great deal of knowledge as the novel constantly contradicts itself. Disorientation and oppression are the major themes as a country at war with itself creates havoc among its citizenry.
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