In Herschel's Wake
A Memior
by Michael Wohl
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
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Pub Date Sep 29 2022 | Archive Date Feb 21 2023
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Description
Like father like son... Like it or not!
HERSCHEL WOHL WAS MANY THINGS: twice-divorced astrologer, pharmacology professor, failed novelist, on-the-lam drug-runner, manual typewriter thief, Aikido white belt, possible communist, and temporary resident of the little-known island of Statia. He was also a father.
When Herschel dies unexpectedly just before his 71st birthday, his adult son Michael has to travel four thousand miles and overcome four decades of filial resentment to pick up Herschel’s pieces. Along the way Michael must reconnect with a forgotten half-brother, reconcile with an overeducated, underachieving sister, and reckon with his ambivalence about religion.
With no modern funerary services available on the tiny island, the three estranged siblings are left to bury their enigmatic patriarch by themselves, and by hand. As one day stretches into three and they wonder if they’ll ever get the bastard in the ground, they are forced to confront their complicated relationships, not only with their charismatic but irresponsible father, but also—and perhaps more importantly—with each other.
In Herschel’s Wake is a darkly funny examination of faith, funerals, family, and f*cked-up fathers, but most of all, it’s about forgiveness.
Advance Praise
"A tender, clever, and engrossing remembrance.... Wohl expertly integrates the backstory of his relationship with his father into an account of the extraordinarily chaotic events that he and his siblings navigated as they scrambled to honor their atheistic dad's final request for "a proper Jewish burial." The work is engagingly edgy, employing an unusual combination of unresolved anger, poignancy, and witty sarcasm." - Kirkus Reviews
"Herschel Wohl was a spectacularly difficult father - a pedantic, dreamy, feckless smoker of all that was smokeable. One could say it was totally in character that while Herschel, or "Dr. Joe," shunned all religion, before dying on a tiny, hard-to-reach Caribbean Island, his last wish was for a traditional Jewish burial. Part adventure story, and part a reckoning, In Herschel's Wake is engaging, poignant, and a thoroughly enjoyable read."
- Jane Bernstein, Award-winning author of The Face Tells the Secret
"Wonderful, entertaining, and highly readable!" - Meaghan Rady, Emmy-winning producer/showrunner
"Full of deep psychological insights, this memoir describes a decades-long series of unique, unforgettable events. The wonderful writing takes the reader to new places, both literally and figuratively." - David A. Rosenbaum, Distinguished Professor. of Psychology, Author, It's a Jungle In There
Check out more 5-star reviews on Amazon.com!
Available Editions
| ISBN | 9781633376281 |
| PRICE | |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Krissy B, Reviewer
In Herschel’s Wake tells the story of the life and death of the author’s father. Michael learns of his father’s death through unconventional means, but soon the reader learns that nothing about Herschel Wohl was conventional. His death sends Michael and his siblings (Anais and Toby) to a tiny island in the Caribbean to bury their father. This is a family with complicated relationships, secrets, and trauma, and these three adult children come together for the first time in their lives to take care of someone who never took care of them.
More than anything, this book is about the author’s relationship with his father. He tells stories of Herschel’s break from societal norms in the ‘70s, his drug use, his ever-changing homes, and his quest to be a published author. Ultimately, Herschel is forced to flee the US and live a somewhat transient life in the Caribbean, moving whenever his past starts to catch up to him.
Now Michael, Anais, and Toby have come to Statia to sort out Herschel’s affairs, hold his funeral, and gain some sort of closure. Michael is left to sort through his father’s unsavory digital footprint and jump through hoops to bury the body. The limited services on the island mean that the most minor details are left to Michael and his siblings, from finding someone to build a casket to washing and dressing the body.
I found this book alternately interesting, disconcerting, and touching. The author works his way through his father’s life and their relationship as he works through his father’s death. Ultimately, I felt this book was about the love we have for some people even if we don’t really like them very much.
Wanda A, Educator
Our of a duty to a father he hadn't seen in years, a son travels to an unknown part of the world to bury his father. He had no idea what he was walking into.
Michael, his sister and half-brother deal with a funeral on an island that seems to create rules and laws at will, and to make life difficult for non-islanders. They are faced with a dead father, no funeral home, cemetery, hearse, gravediggers, or even a coffin, and have to arrange for all of these things while abiding by the laws and securing the necessary permits that no one seems to know are required. And do it all in three days so they can give their father the proper Jewish burial he requested.
If it hasn't gone wrong yet, it will. Some how they manage to do it all while learning about their deceased father and healing their own relationships.
A funny, fabulous, read.
Gail C, Reviewer
Thank you to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read In Herschel’s Wake.
Michael Wohl has turned a rather difficult childhood and the subsequent death of his father on a remote Caribbean Island into a delightfully heartfelt read. Even the very difficult parts of meeting a stepbrother and having to deal with a discombobulated sister all turn into gold as the three must come together to bury the father on this island with lots of archaic bureaucracy, and in a short period of time according to Jewish customs. There is a dark comedy/tragedy, and Wohl takes some very hard facts and makes us look at death and community in a very refreshing way.
The book flips back and forth from Michael’s childhood which was not conventional to Hershel’s life as he tried to make his way as a writer after having left his corporate and married life behind. Hershel doesn’t act like a father, smokes a lot of pot, and gives explanations about life in astrological terms. Michael has to navigate a relationship with his father’s much younger new wife and their open and unusual relationship. In short Michael is forced to figure out life on his own.
To complicate matters, everyone on the island loved his Dad and called him Joe, which seems totally strange to Michael and his siblings. The island certainly didn’t know much about Joe’s past, so Michael and his siblings need to hide their true feelings and just get on with the task at hand.
In the end there are many lessons learned, and a new appreciation for Hershel is birthed. Read the book - it’s funny and serious, and maybe you too can learn to accept your parents even though they are not perfect. Michael Wohl has written a fine tale and I am glad I got to read it.
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