Perceptive neurotic stars in humorous Jewish novel

By Dan Bloom

Danny Bloom
Danny Bloom

CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan – John Blumenthal was born in the middle of the 20th century in Middletown, New York, and while he was not born with a silver spoon in is mouth, he did come into this world with the humorist’s touch deeply embedded in his DNA. I first met him in the 1960s when we were college freshman at Tufts, and even then he was a very funny man.

Fast forward a few decades– four or so, but who’s counting? — and it’s 2015 already and Blumenthal has come out with a new edition of a very witty novel titled What’s Wrong with Dorfman? currently making the rounds as an ebook via Amazon. I sat down at my computer terminal in Taiwan and sought the middle-aged Jewish humorist out. Yes, 65 is the new 39. ”Forever young” is our motto.

Now to the novel at hand.

What’s Wrong With Dorfman? could be seen as a kind of  battle cry of  post-modern America, bringing to mind other questions such as “What’s wrong with America?” and “What’s wrong with everyone?”  The character of
Dorfman  is one of  Blumenthal’s liveliest creations, and he’s written his fair share of novels and two storied screenplays.

A former member of the editorial staffs of Esquire and Playboy magazines, Blumenthal has written for television and co-authored the movies Short Time for 20th Century Fox and Blue Streak for Sony Pictures. Blumenthal
knows the ins and outs of Tinseltown and has honed his craft in the belly of the beast.  His new ebook  is a witty,
laugh-out-loud study of Americana and brings to mind the works of Nathaniel West, an earlier Jewish humorist.
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When I asked the author how growing up Jewish plays into the storyline of the novel, Blumental said, without missing a beat: “The novel is almost premised on Jewish humor. Angst abounds. For example, at the ripe old age of twelve, Dorfman argues with his rabbi about monotheism. In addition,he’s a world class hypochondriac, he worries, he kvetches.”

When I asked for an example from the book, Blumenthal replied: “One example would be a scene in which Dorfman wonders why his family eats so fast. He says:’I am convinced this is an ethnic quirk that goes back to the the days of the pogroms. Hurry up and eat Moishe, the Cossacks are burning down the shul again.'”

So how does America look to Blumenthal now in 2015?

“I would agree with Dorfman’s opinion of life which is that, in our own ways, all of us are a little crazy,” he told San Diego Jewish World.

“Dorfman asked why this so and answers his own question in the novel this way: ‘Because only lunatics would undertake, generation after generation, the daunting task of survival on this lonely, inhospitable planet in the middle of a dark unfathomable universe. Only a race of complete loonies would be able to live happily for eighty-odd years, knowing that, at any random moment and without warning, death could end it all in an assortment of utterly gruesome and horrific ways.””

That’s in the book.  You can kindle it.

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Bloom, based in Taiwan,is an inveterate web surfer.  You may comment to dan.bloom@sdjewishworld.com, or post your comment on this website, provided that the rules below are observed.