Sam Apple

This utterly goofy book is about a toilet whose feelings are hurt because Danny doesn't want to sit on it - so the toilet runs away. And that, of course, is when Danny announces he is ready to sit on the toilet! So, Danny and his parents go haring off to find their toilet. Successful, they return home, where "Danny showed the toilet he WAS ready." And "I've never felt so happy!" the toilet said.

A creative spin on the potty-training book.

Quirky and genuine, Apple follows a Yiddish, Austrian jew as he wanders through the Alps with his sheep. This is one of the strangest and most charming memoires ever written. Heavy themes of anti-semitism, loss and reconciliation are nicely leavened by Apple's obsessive compulsive mutterings about women, sex, sheep and and personal hygiene (ever bathed in a hollowed-out log?). Finely observed and elegantly written.

American Parent reads a bit like an A.J. Jacobs book, just not as good. It had moments here and there, but I felt Apple didn't quite hold my attention or make me laugh like Jacobs does. Really though, that's the best way to explain the book, a poor man's A.J. Jacobs. Apple is likeable enough writing his fish-out-of-water experience as an expecting first time father and then as a father in practice. But he throws too much information about parenting theory with not enough anecdotal backing. show more It's essentially as if a reporter was going to interview someone famous, did so, but then mostly loaded the finished product with material from print and online with only a sprinkling of actual interview. When Apple is in anecdote mode the book is enjoyable. When he starts delving into Freud's take on children or most of the others for that matter, I couldn't wait for the chapter to end. show less

Sam Apple, a young Jewish-American journalist catches a Yiddish folk song concert and is changed by the singer. Hans is the last wandering shepherd in Austria. He has also become obsessed by Yiddish singing. Sam is entranced by this mysterious man and embarks on an expedition to Austria. He wants to learn about shepherding and the roots of Austrian Jewry. The resulting memoir is fascinating and fun.