Second Hand Smoke: A Novel

A story of the impact of the Holocaust on the lives of the next generation - the children of survivors. Duncan Katz is born of Auschwitz survivors who fled to America but continued to live the trauma of their harrowing experience in their daily lives, passing on the burden of their tortured psyches to the next generation. The mother, Mila, is the driving character --- shrewd, tough, ruthless, her main obsession is to exact vengeance for the past by rearing the new "hero" who will destroy steorotype of weak, timid Jews. Duncan was never a child in the normal sense -- his mother drove him to excel in everything, imposing a strict military discipline and a rigid schedule with no room for fun, play, or friends. The world is a jungle to be show more survived, everybody is an enemy. Outwardly, he becomes the "perfect" man, but he is destroyed, hollow inside. He has turned out to be a robot, incapable of feelings other than revenge, hate, a bully, unable to sustain any relationship, including even with his mother. He becomes a federal prosecutor and a top Nazi-hunter. He breaks from his family, starts his own, discovers some secrets, travels to Poland and attempts an interpretation of justice Duncan-style, and so on...

The novel is well-intentioned, it draws us to the battle inside individuals who grew up in such families who have to live with their demons the rest of their lives, and to carry this burden. But the novel reads too much like the script of a commercial movie --- it sensationalizes everything so that it becomes an odd mix of suspense, crime thriller (Mila is a card shark and a gangster, a leader even of the Jewish Mafia), melodrama (Mila with cancer, reunion with a "secret" brother), and other stuff too "fantastical." I regret reading something on such a dreadful and serious subject, written in a way which "cheapens" it. Perhaps this appeals to those who like hollywood hero type movies with a bit of "historical" element thrown into it (this was highly starred in Amazon, but i should have known better). show less

This fascinating book is about Duncan Katz, the son of Holocaust survivors, and the impact of his parents horrific experiences on his own life. It especially deals with Duncan’s relationship with his mother, Mila Katz, a Miami card shark and gangster, victimized by the Nazis and guilt-ridden over the abandonment of her other son, Isaac, in Poland when he was an infant. Mila blew “second-hand smoke” into the lungs of her children, the smoke being that which came from the chimneys of Auschwitz.

Mr. Rosenbaum has a very unique writing style. Poetic, surreal and at times a bit complicated, the author creates a world where not all Jews where stereotyped as “nice Jewish boys”; where characters such as Mila, Duncan and even Isaac are show more larger-than-life but fascinating. A very satisfying ending!

I feel that Thane Rosenbaum’s story is very important, especially as we are losing many Holocaust survivors to old age. As those with the numbers tattooed on their arms pass on, we need someone to continually remind the world of the atrocities inflicted by Adolph Hitler and how it still effects current generations. Thane Rosenbaum has done that job in SECOND HAND SMOKE quite effectively! show less