Len Bronstein is an art teacher. He has a whole lot of clay he’s filched from his employer’s supply closet, and now he’s stoned. He should make something. He should make a Golem. And friend, that’s just what he does.
Traditionally, The Golem is made by a rabbi to help the Jewish people during difficult times. Len isn’t a rabbi, and he doesn’t expect much from his creation:

“Five minutes passed, and nothing happened. Len reminded himself that he didn’t actually expect anything to…he didn’t believe in any of this shit. He stood, dusted himself off, and went inside to grab a beer…Len deposited his beer in the sink just as The Golem ripped his back door off the hinges and flung it aside.”

My thanks go to Net Galley and Random House Ballantine for the invitation to read and review. This book is for sale now.

Now that The Golem has awakened, he needs to know what his target is. His answer comes to him as he views the news on Len’s television. White Supremacists are railing about a Jewish conspiracy; the Holocaust, they say, was a hoax. The Golem was asleep during the Holocaust, but once it’s explained to him, he’s ready to get busy. But first, he must talk to the rabbi.

Our second main character is a woman named Miriam, Miri to you and me. She works at the bodega down the street, and Len recruits her to be a translator; The Golem, you see, only speaks Yiddish, and Len doesn’t. Miri has been drummed out of the temple because she is a lesbian, but The Golem likes her just fine. Before you know it, Len, Miriam and The Golem are on a road trip beyond all others, first to find a way in to see the Sassov Grand Rebbe, a wealthy and powerful man with a great many gatekeepers, and then to a scheduled White Pride rally down south.

This is, as may be obvious by now, very edgy humor. There’s a great deal of profanity, and whereas most of it is hilarious, at the beginning, the author could have varied his choices more. There are lots of cuss words out there, and not all of them begin with F. But this is a small matter. This novel’s action is interspersed with brief passages of Jewish history that I find very interesting, and they are so brief, and so skillfully woven into the narrative, that you may not notice that you’re learning some things.

My favorite passages involve a bombastic politician, and multiple encounters with cops. (The Golem doesn’t care for them.) As for me, I have read several very funny novels this year, but none made me laugh out loud as often as this one. And in the end--well, you don’t expect me to tell you how this ends, now do you?

Highly recommended to readers that lean left and can tolerate profanity.

TRIGGER WARNING!!! If any of the following describes you, DO NOT READ THIS BOOK! IT IS NOT FOR YOU.
There is no question that the history revisionists, Trumpites, Holocaust deniers Proud Boys, Right Wing Republicans, and even Satmar sect Hasidic Jews will find themselves on these pages in a most unflattering light. (Hence the trigger warning - it's not too late NOT to start reading.)

Okay, now that that's out of the way, let me tell you how much I loved this book. I'll begin by saying that the first book I ever reviewed for Goodreads was titled The Golem and the Jini and it was a romance. So as soon as I saw that NetGalley had The Golem of Brooklyn available as an ARC, I downloaded it with great glee and anticipation and it did not disappoint.

Len is a high school Art teacher and over time, has brought home 400 pounds of art supply clay from his school. What to do with it? What else but build a Golem. For those of you who are not familiar with Golems, it is said that throughout Jewish history, renowned Rabbis have saved the Jews by creating a creature from clay, using other materials like blood and cemetery dirt mixed in to create it. Using the proper words, the Rabbi would animate the creature by writing EMET (meaning "truth") on its forehead. Once turned loose, the Golem would rampage and kill the offending oppressors of his people.

Len does all the proper things to accomplish this, but unfortunately the creature only speaks Yiddish, which Len does not understand. So he parks the enormous thing in front of the TV and goes off the bring Miri, a young woman who works in the nearby bodega, to translate. Miri is a Gay dropout from a strict Hasidic sect.

The early part of this novel is so hysterically funny that I was in pain by page 20 from laughing so hard. The fact that I speak Yiddish may have helped, although there are translations for non-speakers. But don't get too used to it. The laughter becomes mixed with discomfort and disbelief as the novel progresses. (My mother would have called it laughing with Yasherkes", which means with tears and pain.)

Mansbach's book even mentions Professor Lilly's dolphin experiments in the 1960s. (You should really read Dolphin House by AudreySchulman)

If you want to read a mind-blowingly funny book about a very serious subject, this is the one. My thanks to the author (You go Guy), to NetGalley and to One World publishers for an early copy.

I was a little hesitant about requesting this book, because I know about golems from Jewish folklore, and they are generally not very nice. They are not human, but can take on human form. Or any form they choose. The very word made children shudder.

In The Golem of Brooklyn, set in modern times, Len, a kind of guy who doesn’t do much, decides to create a golem, despite warnings from the community, rabbis, and scholars, that doing so could result in irreparable havoc. But Len just thinks he’s creating a replica of a golem out of clay. A lot of clay. Tons of clay, it seems like. So he creates an enormous clay sculpture of a pretty horrible looking creature, never dreaming that it will come to life.

But, as in the Jewish folktales of yore, Len wakes up one morning and finds that his creation is sort of coming to life. At first it has no language or knowledge, but Len, by now enthralled with what has happened, becomes its teacher.

And then they are off and running, meeting interesting people along the way, and Len reconnects with his previously dormant Judaism. Eventually the golem wreaks havoc on an anti -Semitic rally, and that is when what had been an hysterically funny book becomes a warning for today. Anti- Semitism and all other kinds of hatred’ towards “the other” is on the rise and we need to be aware of it and stop it in its tracks. And we won’t have a golem to help us.

Fabulous book. Highly recommend.

I received this book from the publisher and NetGalley.

The Golem of Brooklyn is an entertaining and thought provoking novel. Struggling art teacher Len Bronstein creates a golem and Len's world is turned upside down. Len's life starts to take shape after he molds a golem out of clay and that golem is suddenly alive. The golem initially speaks only Yiddish so Len recruits the formally frum mini-mart worker Miri as his translator. Miri is fascinated by the golem and the three of them embark on an amazing adventure. The golem learns English by watching Curb Your Enthusiasm and becomes infatuated with Larry David. However, the golem can be ferocious when he is tasked with saving Jews. Mansbach has created a multi-faceted golem that will be enjoyable and interesting to many readers.

With anti-Semitism on the rise across the country, what better time for the apocryphal return of the Golem? He is ascribed to be a folkloric/ mythical defender of the Jewish people whenever and wherever they are under threat. But he must be created, usually out of clay.

Len Bronstein, a stoner art teacher in Brooklyn, doesn’t know how to create one nor what the Golem can achieve. But somehow, with stolen clay from his school, he makes a golem that comes to “life.” Physically, it as a cross between Frankenstein and the Hulk, but taller and heavier – an imposing lunk! Traditionally it is brought to life by a holy man with incantations and has the Hebrew word “Truth” on its forehead. Aside from its size and power (a challenge in a small apartment), Len soon realizes that he has communication problems with his golem. It only speaks Yiddish. Fortunately, Len is based in Brooklyn and enlists an ex-Hasid, lesbian Miri to assist!

There begins a story that bounces into Jewish history as retold and experienced by the Golem. But the present mission is to strike out at prejudice; there is seemingly no end to modern day targets – tiki torch rallies, white supremists and anyone with hateful, dogmatic ideology. The group goes at it revealing sometimes painful and ironic situations. The tone of this book strives for a somewhat comic (not necessarily funny) tone. This is not unexpected since the Golem learns his English from “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star, Larry David.

Think this title will appeal to Adam Mansbach fans and those liking edgy reading and dark comedy. Can’t say I was with them for most of the book, but a novel concept and comeback to today’s climate. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this title.

Just in time for the holiday Sukkot, Adam Mansbach has released his novel The Golem of Brooklyn.  This is a great read while relaxing in your sukkah! His depth of knowledge into Judaism makes for some very niche jokes. This book rivals the hilarity, irreverence and solid Judaic research found in "Lamb" by Christopher Moore.   Even if you are not Jewish you can understand the jokes from the context.  The book is about  Len and Miri's adventures trying to avert disaster caused by the Golem.  Along the way the reader learns Jewish history and folklore as well as customs in a very humorous way.

Easily one of my favorite books of the year. I'm not sure I've ever read a book that both made me laugh and shook me so thoroughly. As someone who has been trying to embrace and learn about my Jewish heritage more as I've gotten older, I could not have asked for a better book. Great humanity and inhumanity on full display here. Mansbach tackles a lot in a fairly short amount of time, but manages to explore it all with great aplomb. A must-read IMHO

I knew immediately after reading the synopsis that this was going to be an outstanding, deeply original work. I'm happy to have been proven right (and then some!) It moves so quickly that you don't have time to stop and ask yourself what the hell just happened. The Golem, Len, and Miri make the sweetest, funniest team I've encountered in a while - I laughed out loud at least twice every chapter. It's a no-brainer - The Golem of Brooklyn gets 5 stars and a permanent spot on my recommendation list. Excellent!

I live in Prague, and it's impossible to escape the story of the golem here. The Old-New Synagogue is the legendary home of the creature, and vendors on the streets of the Jewish Quarter (Josefov) sell postcards, watercolors, magnets, and small statues of the mystical creature. I have a tiny golem standing watch on a shelf over the stove in my kitchen.

So it was great fun to read this fresh take on the golem story, transported across the Atlantic to modern Brooklyn and then, in super-protector mode, to the American South to wreak (appropriate) havoc on well-deserving fascists.

Our hero Len and his friend Miri are comfortably charming companions for this pleasantly meandering story about what happens when a modern golem follows his need to defend the Jewish people against violence.

Rich with humor and a good bit of heart, the story lands with a nicely cathartic ending. And not for nothing, I would eagerly read the fictional novel Len wants to write.

Lynn is a 30 something-year-old Pott smoking private school teacher who has been taking Clay home for as long as he’s worked at the Academy and one night after getting really smoked out he made himself a golem. After learning he couldn’t communicate with the golem he recruited the local bodega Cashier Murray. After Murray‘s recruitment and English education from curb your enthusiasm Lynn and Murray will both get an education in Jewish history even though they’re both Jewish but are also both non-practicing when the Gollum ask who he is to kill Lynn is speechless he doesn’t know what to tell the golem Lynn thinks he has found inspiration when he shows the 9 foot golem protesters who hate Jews and anyone else who’s not white and Christian so now the golem thinks they have a mission to get to Kentucky to be at the next rally they have a few stars and stops and they even stop at Lynn’s uncle‘s house who he hasn’t seen since college who makes the golem a Bigfoot costume so it’s not the freak people out… Because the 9 foot Sasquatch is normal. When they have a disagreement between all three of them as to what their plan of attack should be in Kentucky the golem throws Lynn open to a tree and then takes off on foot by his self. Will the trio ever make it to Kentucky and if they do will the golem commit a massacre? This book was good for two reasons the story of the golem with Lynn and Maury and then again with Lana and Evan who is an awesome story I absolutely love that little road trip but I also loved the Jewish history that I didn’t know and found it all so entertaining I laughed out loud more than once because this book is so so funny and educational and entertaining and it’s a book I definitely recommend if you love great books about road trips and or mythical creatures existing in the modern day world then you’re definitely love the golem of Brooklyn I certainly did! I can’t think of one negative thing to say about this awesome book! I want to think the author and Net Galley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Hilarious! Len Bronstein, a Jewish high school art teacher has systematically stolen 400 pounds of sculpting clay from the school's art supplies. With it, he creates a Golem using instructions from the internet but is not prepared when the body he created becomes animated, starts smashing things and is yelling in Yiddish! Len plunks the Golem in front of the TV set, tuned in to 'Curb Your Enthusiasm,' and takes off for the local bodega where he knows Miri, the clerk working there, speaks Yiddish, and convinces her to come help.

By the time they get back, the Golem is already pretty fluent in English and wants to know why he's been summoned. Usually a rabbi or prophet brings him forth in times of crisis and Len is neither one of those. And BTW, he's THE Golem, the one who has been called upon for over 5000 years. And now The Golem wants to go to Kentucky to kill a bunch of white supremacists who are holding a rally. Oy vey!

Really original and quite cleverly done with a good message at the end. Mansbach fleshes out (pun intended) the story with some interesting bits of Jewish history and religion. I received an arc from the author and publisher via NetGalley. Many thanks! My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

Admittedly, this novel is my introduction to the genius of Adam Mansbach. The setting is obviously Brooklyn where a stoned art teacher haphazardly creates a Golem and loops in Miri, a neighborhood bodega clerk, to deal with anti-semitics at a race rally…let’s just say a lot of twist, turns, and absurd shenanigans are in play – but the author makes his points clear amid the madness.

This is an easy read steeped in Jewish history involving the Golem mythology (which I thoroughly enjoyed), dark humor (I’m sure some went over my head), and quirky (but likable) characters (aside from the Golom, there’s a feline narrator). There are overt themes that hone in on the need to remain diligent, to heed the lessons of the past, and to preserve the culture and traditions amid the challenges of modernity. Smartly written and relevant to modern issues, it provides great fodder for discussion and thought because of the myriad of topics, recent (real world) events, and inclusion of so many “groups” within the communities: Hasidic Jews, Jews in the LBGTQAi+, secular Jews, etc. There’s a lot to unpack within the pages and I think book clubs would have a great time with it!

Thanks to the publisher, One World, and NetGalley for an opportunity to review.

4 stars / This review will be posted on goodreads.com today.


This book had me learning, laughing, and contemplating our world today. Mansbach can take a rather serious subject and make it humorous.

Len Bronstein is a private school art teacher living in a flat in Brooklyn. After getting high one day, he decides that he’s going to create a golem from the clay he’s been pilfering from his school. What is a golem? The Golem appears throughout Jewish history as a protector of the Jews.

I didn’t know that either.

But Mansbach teaches us throughout this novel about history, most specifically Jewish history, in a really interesting way.

So he creates this Golem, says the required prayers, and passes out, thinking it didn’t work. Only it does work and the 9 foot tall beast of clay animates and begins speaking in Yiddish. While Bronstein is a Jew, he’s not a scholarly Jew. So he runs to his bodega where he knows the woman who works there speaks Yiddish.

This begins not only an interesting partnership, but also a tale about trying to save the world from the racists and bigots and anti-semites. While this novel will make you laugh (and also wonder where you can get some of what Mansbach is smoking) it is also extremely thought-provoking.

I read it in one day. That should be praise enough.

I absolutely loved this hilarious and darkly realistic story- that's right, even with a golem involved, it feels like something very close to reality.

When Len, an art teacher, gets high and creates a golem, he doesn't expect it to work, and he definitely doesn't expect the Golem to teach itself English with the help of Larry David and need the help of Miri, a lesbian and former Hasid who works at his neighborhood bodega. As The Golem slowly remembers its past, it also searches for current battles it needs to fight for the Jews, leading Len and Miri to a far right rally in Kentucky as the Golem tries to destroy Proud Boys and other violent antisemites.

I was excited about a Golem going after modern antisemites, but I didn't expect this book to be so hilarious. This is a wry look at so many groups, including Hasidic communities, far right cops protecting their own, queer religious Jews, secular Jews, and more. It is sometimes dark, almost always hilarious, and surprisingly heartfelt. While some of the nuance is more in your face than I would usually prefer, I hope that means this book is able to reach a wider audience than just Jews.

Highly recommend this one!

Honestly, I tried. This has a terrific set up- a golem molded by a stoned art teacher comes to life- but it's all over the place. Mansbach has some excellent points to make but the frantic nature took away from them. To be fair, I enjoyed Len and Miri who do their best with Len's creation. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Over to others.

This book was funny, well-written, and really interesting. I appreciated the look at a large figure in Jewish lore but also adding some wit.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of The Golem of Brooklyn by Adam Mansbach!

Adam Mansbach has written an incredibly smart book filled with humor but also conveying the darker realities of Jewish society. I started this book knowing very little about what a Golem was or its history and place in the Jewish culture. Throughout the story, the author provided an impressive amount of history and explanation for the Golem's place and appearances in past records. I believe this story highlights some important questions such as, what does it mean to be Jewish and what does antisemitism exist.

The story starts with Len who has almost impossibly created a Golem. We later learn that it isn't just any Golem. It is The Golem. The Golem who has hundreds of years ago protected the Jewish people and now is here to do it again. Len immediately needs help and turns to Miri. Miri is a lesbian ex-Hasidic Jew, whose parents no longer consider her Jewish. As the story progresses and Len and Miri turn to the Rebbe for guidance but ultimately strike out on their own to try to make a difference and fulfill The Golem's mission of saving the Jewish people.

The Golem of Brooklyn was at once educational and entertaining. The author clearly conveyed his message without being preachy or presumptive. I am quite impressed with the balance he struck and the complexity and scope of the story.

Thank you to the publisher for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

The Golem of Brooklyn by Adam Mansbach had me laughing at this absurd but brilliant look into the history of the Jews through a Golem. After the first few pages I wasn't so sure, but this story sold me over and over again. The Golem learns english from watching Curb Your Enthusiasm. Different, sarcastic and well-written.

When I was in my first year as an undergraduate at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, I took an introductory Canadian history course (which I aced — I got the only A+ I ever received for an overall subject in school in that class). I was speaking in the class’s auditorium one day, asking a question of the professor perhaps, when I referred to Jewish peoples as “the Jews.” I had meant nothing by it, but my Jewish Teaching Assistant then rebuked me in front of the class, insinuating that I had made an anti-Semite slur. I have not forgotten that lesson, and I try to refer to those who are of this race and religion as “the Jewish people.” You can imagine my slight surprise that a publisher would approach me to give a fair and honest review of Adam Mansbach’s The Golem of Brooklyn. This is a very Jewish book, as it is also a very American one, and I had to wonder if I’m the most qualified to write about it given my position as a white, Anglo-Saxon Canadian Christian who knows not enough of the Jewish culture and way of life in the U.S. Well, perhaps in retrospect, this might have been working in my favour, as I got to identify some blind spots within me and also perhaps learn a thing or two. And the book is (mostly) a comedy, and laughter is something that anyone can relate to. Even if the book features a cameo by Larry David as himself (I’m not a big fan of the kind of sarcastic humour that David exhorts, alas — but that’s just me and my preferences, and is in no way meant to be a reflection on the quality of this novel or of Jewish cultural touchstones.)

The Golem of Brooklyn is about Len, a high-school art teacher, who creates a 400-pound, nine-foot-and-change Golem in his apartment while stoned, using stolen clay. However, The Golem (and the definite article is capitalized throughout the book) comes to life. The problem is the Golem of Jewish tradition exists to protect the Jewish people in a time of crisis. What does The Golem need to protect in the year 2023? Well, as it would turn out, there’s an anti-Semite rally being held in western Kentucky in a manner of days, so Len, The Golem, and Miri, a Jewish lesbian bodega clerk who tags along to help translate what The Golem is saying in Hebrew, set out to give these self-professed “Jew haters” a scare and a real run for their money. However, as such things go, complications abound and Len and Miri must convince The Golem to not kill anybody at the rally, as they deal with problems that crop up that prevent them from making the journey. This includes an overzealous police officer who stops the group for being in the middle of the road (and that may be a comment that the author is making there).

Adam Mansbach may not be a household name, per se, but he’s the author of the bestselling and immensely popular picture book for adults, Go the Fuck to Sleep. In The Golem of Brooklyn, the humour is often profane and somewhat juvenile (if you’re looking for the Hebrew way of saying “dick,” look no further). It also takes some time to get going, plot-wise, which means that there are lulls in the action, particularly in the first half of the read. However, things pick up as the book goes along, culminating in a satisfying but open-ended climax. Overall, this is an enjoyable book and one with multiple messages. It reminds readers — and I suspect this is aimed at so-called goys like me — that anti-Semitism has almost always been around historically, and is becoming especially prevalent in the present day again through groups such as the Proud Boys and MAGA-loving supporters of Donald Trump. That Jewish people need to be protected is something of a given. However, the book is also aimed at Jewish people who have forgotten their traditions and culture. Len, for one, does not speak Yiddish or Hebrew and needs the help of someone else to, at the outset, understand what The Golem is saying. It’s also something of an indictment against orthodox Jewish people who seek to protect themselves at any cost — even if it means hurting or killing others. So there’s much to graze on here other than the humour, and the book is a deeply philosophical and sobering one.

All in all, The Golem of Brooklyn is a work of some brevity — I was able to read the whole thing in a couple of sittings. However, it is an unqualified success. I suppose the stoner humour wasn’t my proverbial cup of tea, but Mansbach knows his presumably Millennial audience and those into light recreational drugs and Jewish humor will find much to smile at here. None of this is “laugh out loud” funny, but it probably shouldn’t be: the elimination of the Jewish race does not lend itself to humour very well, especially with the horrors of the Holocaust being so relatively fresh. In any event, The Golem of Brooklyn is a treat for those into this sort of thing and might be instructive and thus useful for those who aren’t or wouldn’t conceive of reading a very Jewish work of literature. A lot of thought and care has gone into this work of staggering genius, and it’s ripe to be discovered by those seeking something a little different and off the beaten path. Adam Mansbach may be best known for writing children’s stories for adults, but here he has written a very adult story for grown children — and this may ultimately prove to be the thing that he may come to be among what he is best remembered for.