THE CONVERSION OF CHAPLAIN COHEN

by Herbert Tarr ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 18, 1963

A semi-humorous, semi-autobiographical (Rabbi Tarr has presumbely based many of his hero's experiences on his own) and warm-hearted novel, although the title may be a little misleading. For Rabbi Cohen's conversion is from a provincial, that is to say, Brooklynese, Jewishness to the universal, during his hitch as an Air Force chaplain. Rabbi Cohen, or Tarr, may waste space here and there naively explaining how he came to discover that Christians are people too, but he can retell a dog-eared incident, such as a soldier's first home leave, as if it had never been told before. It is all very real -- and so is Rabbi Cohen, as much a lonely, troubled young hothead as the licensed middleman in other people's troubles. All of these qualities are applied in a collision with a portly, neurotic young woman who begs him to make love to her for the sake of her self-esteem. If this scene does not enlist sympathy, then it may be safely decided that the reader in question is neither Jew nor Christian but prig.... A safe audience to try for- Harry Golden's.

Pub Date: April 18, 1963

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: ernard Geis- dist. by Random House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1963

Categories: FICTION