Gordon, Neil 1958–

views updated

GORDON, Neil 1958–

PERSONAL: Born 1958, in South Africa. Education: University of Michigan, B.A., 1980; Yale University, Ph.D., 1991.

ADDRESSES: Agent—Janklow and Nesbit, 598 Madison Ave., New York, NY.

CAREER: Yale University, New Haven, CT, instructor, 1985–87; New York Review of Books, New York, NY, assistant to the editor, 1987–89, special projects editor, 1989–95; Boston Review, Boston, MA, literary editor, 1994–95, new fiction forum editor, 1998–. Executive editor, The Reader's Catalog, 1995–.

AWARDS, HONORS: First prize, Jules and Avery Hopwood Competition, University of Michigan, 1979 and 1980.

WRITINGS:

Sacrifice of Isaac (novel), Random House (New York, NY), 1995.

The Gun Runner's Daughter (novel), Random House (New York, NY), 1998.

The Company You Keep (novel), Viking (New York, NY), 2003.

Contributor of essays to New York Times Book Review, Boston Review, and Voice Literary Supplement.

ADAPTATIONS: Film rights to The Company You Keep have been sold, to be adapted for film by Robert Redford.

SIDELIGHTS: Neil Gordon's first novel, Sacrifice of Isaac, is the story of a man's struggle to uncover the hidden truths about his family. Luke and Danni Benami are brothers, the sons of Yossi Benami, a professor helped thousands of Jews escape the Nazis and who later became a national hero while serving as a general in the Israeli army. Danni, the elder of the two brothers, joined the army but deserted, and eventually became a smuggler of antiquities. Luke also serves in the army where, as a member of the occupying force of Beirut, he becomes embittered by the violence he witnesses. When Yossi Benami dies, Luke travels to Paris to search for Danni, so that they might settle the estate. When he finds that Danni has vanished, he begins an investigation that eventually reaches back into his father's wartime activities. While the book is a "fast-paced international chase tale in the tradition of John Le Carre and Graham Greene," it is also delivers a statement on the inevitable corruption that accompanies war, according to Joan Baum in Tikkun. She called Sacrifice of Isaac "a controversial book, an intensely felt first novel with a passion for peace and coexistence that will surely offend many on the religious and political right," and warned that the action-filled plot is "so compelling that the profundity at the heart of the matter is almost obscured." Booklist contributor George Needham credited the author with providing "an unsentimental look at pre-World War II Zionism, the exigencies of life under Nazism, and the realities of modern Israel." A Publishers Weekly writer also approved: "Braced by careful research, his strong, polished narrative tells a tale that is both entertaining and provocative."

Sacrifice of Isaac had echoes of the Biblical story of Abraham and Isaac, and Gordon's second novel, The Gun Runner's Daughter, also Biblical roots, playing on the tale of Esther. When the book's central character, Esther Rosenthal, discovers that her father is about to be prosecuted for illegal arms dealing, she undertakes a mission to save him at any cost. "The sophistication of her plan, the risks she runs, and the diabolical performances she executes are spellbinding and surprisingly evocative," commented Donna Seaman in Booklist. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly praised Gordon for the way "he adroitly manages an intricate page-turning plot, three-dimensional characters, unflagging suspense, intrigue and ardent romance."

Gordon created another complex thriller with The Company You Keep, which focuses on a fictional former member of the 1960s radical group the Weather Underground. The novel, which is told in the form of e-mail messages between the main characters, begins on June 1, 2006, one decade after Ben Schulberg, a newspaper reporter, exposed a prominent lawyer as the former leader of the Weather Underground. The revelation sets a dramatic chain of events into motion, taking the reader through a variety of settings and involving a cast of characters that include dope smugglers, politicians, and a conscience-stricken FBI agent. While the story line is full of tension, the narrative style is "rather peculiar," commented Mark Kloszewski of Library Journal. He found the e-mail format "rather wearisome—not to mention unconvincing." A Kirkus Reviews writer similarly thought that the book suffers from "certain limitations of the e-epistolary form," but nevertheless called it an "engaging political drama." A Publishers Weekly reviewer commended The Company You Keep as "a tense fugitive procedural, full of intriguing lore about false identities and techniques for losing a tail, with a nuanced exploration of boomer nostalgia and regret." Ron Jacobs, reviewing the book for Counterpunch, mused: "If there's one thing that comes across in Gordon's story and its various twists and turns, it is that love is the most important thing. The final emails reveal an incredible web of relationships that are woven together so cleverly that even the most jaundiced reader can only marvel at the author's storytelling ability."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, June 1, 1995, George Needham, review of Sacrifice of Isaac, p. 1727; August, 1998, Donna Seaman, review of The Gun Runner's Daughter, p. 1960; June 1, 2001, Joanne Wilkinson, review of The Gun Runner's Daughter, p. 1836.

Buffalo News (Buffalo, NY), November 22, 1998, Ed Kelly, "Putting the Bite on Crime," p. G5.

Capital Times (Madison, WI), August 8, 2003, Stu Levitan, review of The Company You Keep, p. 11A.

Entertainment Weekly, August 18, 1995, Gene Lyons, review of Sacrifice of Isaac, p. 51.

Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 1995, pp. 658-659; May 15, 2003, review of The Company You Keep, p. 700.

Kliatt, March, 1996, p. 50.

Library Journal, March 15, 1995, Barbara Hoffert, review of Sacrifice of Isaac, p. 98; October 1, 1995, Sandy Glover, review of Sacrifice of Isaac (sound recording), p. 132; July, 1998, Barbara Hoffert, review of The Gun Runner's Daughter, p. 135; June 1, 2003, Marc Kloszewski, review of The Company You Keep, p. 166.

Los Angeles Times, July 13, 2003, Robert Hellenga, review of The Company You Keep, p. R6; May 5, 2003, review of The Company You Keep, p. 195.

New York Review of Books, December 17, 1998, Christopher Hitchens, review of The Gun Runner's Daughter, p. 43.

New York Times, July 20, 1995, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, review of Sacrifice of Isaac, pp. B5, C16; September 7, 1998, Richard Bernstein, review of The Gun Runner's Daughter.

New York Times Book Review, July 15, 1995, William Boyd, review of Sacrifice of Isaac, p. 12; September 13, 1998, James Polk, review of The Gun Runner's Daughter, p. 45; June 29, 2003, James McManus, review of The Company You Keep, p. 5.

Publishers Weekly, May 15, 1995, review of Sacrifice of Isaac, p. 54; September 4, 1995, review of Sacrifice of Isaac (sound recording), p. 34; July 6, 1998, review of The Gun Runner's Daughter, p. 51; May 5, 2003, review of The Company You Keep, p. 195.

School Library Journal, November, 1995, Chip Barnett, review of Sacrifice of Isaac, p. 138.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Seattle, WA), September 9, 1998, review of The Gun Runner's Daughter, p. D2.

Tikkun, March-April, 1996, Joan Baum, review of Sacrifice of Isaac, p. 69.

Village Voice, July 25, 1995, p. 85.

Washington Post Book World, August 27, 1995, p. 5.