(Fiction, 362 pp. 2010)
Beginning in 1999 when a teenager discovers Rabbi Eliezer ben Zephyr in his parents’ freezer in suburban Memphis, Tennessee, this uproarious romp then jumps to 1899 to explain how the rabbi became encased in ice in the Jewish Pale. Through a series of surreal misadventures by a cast of comic and cosmic characters, this lovingly irreverent novel explores a century of the diaspora.
- Discussion questions and “Defrosting the Past: a note from author”
- Review by Ben Marcus, New York Times, July 4, 2010
- Review by Jess Walter, Washington Post, June 22, 2010
- Review by Yael Goldstein Love, San Francisco Chronicle, May 30, 2010
- Kat Zhao interviews Steve Stern, Student Life, November 21, 2008
- Joshua Cohen interviews Steve Stern, Jewish Daily Forward, May 29, 2008
- Shabbat sermon, Temple Israel, Memphis Tennessee, September 21, 2012 (21 min. Stern appears at 5:15 min.)
