Goyhood

A Novel

De: Reuven Fenton

Narrado por: Mike Lenz

Reuven Fenton's novel Goyhood is a brilliant debut about a devoutly Orthodox Jewish man who discovers in middle age that he's not, in fact, Jewish, and embarks on a remarkable road trip to come to grips with his fate.

When Mayer (nee Marty) Belkin fled small-town Georgia for Brooklyn nearly thirty years ago, he thought he'd left his wasted youth behind. Now he's a Talmud scholar married into one of the greatest rabbinical families in the world.

But his mother's untimely death brings a shocking revelation: Mayer and his ne'er-do-well twin brother David aren't, in fact, Jewish. Traumatized and spiritually bereft, Mayer's only recourse is to convert to Judaism. But the earliest date he can get is a week from now. What are two estranged brothers to do in the interim?

So begins the Belkins' Rumspringa through America's Deep South with Mom's ashes in tow, plus two tagalongs: an insightful Instagram influencer named Charlayne Valentine and Popeye, a one-eyed dog. As the crew gets tangled up in a series of increasingly surreal adventures, Mayer grapples with a God who betrayed him and an emotionally withdrawn wife in Brooklyn who has yet to learn her husband is a counterfeit Jew.

©2024 Reuven Fenton (P)2024 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Oy!

I loved this book! A fabulous read for anyone who practices Judaism! But, the narrator should really know how to pronounce Hebrew! Most Hebrew words were mispronounced. 😏

Awful pronunciation of Hebrew words by the narrator

It really bothered me that the narrator had no idea how to pronounce the many Hebrew words in the book. It was painful to listen to him butcher the language. Couldn’t they have found a narrator who can pronounce the words correctly? I’m
Surprised the book was issued with this narration.

Good read…awful listen

The actor reading the well written story absolutely butchered all Hebrew and Yiddish phrases - I enjoyed the story but almost couldn’t finish because listening was so difficult

Goyhood

Goyhood starts with a small lie told early in childhood and follows the long, unexpected mess it creates years later. What begins as a story about faith and identity slowly turns into an awkward, often funny American road trip between two brothers who thought they knew who they were.

The story follows brothers Marty and David, who were raised believing they were Jewish after their mother told a small lie early in their lives. They both embraced that identity in very different ways. David drifted, while Marty, also known as Mayer, dove in completely, becoming deeply religious and dedicating his life to study.

After their mother’s death, Mayer learns the truth, that by religious law he isn’t Jewish at all, a revelation that leaves him unmoored and quietly panicked.

With his life built almost entirely around faith, Mayer suddenly finds himself scrambling for time. Time to convert properly, time to work out how to tell his wife, and time to make sense of what this means for who he is.

That uncertainty becomes the excuse for a road trip across America with David, framed as something spiritual but really functioning as a long, uncomfortable reckoning between two brothers who barely know each other anymore.

One of the more amusing aspects of the book is just how ill-equipped Mayer is for the real world. He’s lived an intensely sheltered life, financially supported by his father-in-law so he could focus on religious study, while his wife handled the practical details of day-to-day living.

As a result, Mayer is functionally useless in ways that are often funny, sometimes frustrating, and occasionally sad. It gives the journey a grounded sense of vulnerability rather than turning him into a caricature.

The road trip itself is loose and episodic, more about conversations and encounters than destinations. It’s generally light in tone, often funny, and built around the slow reconnection between two very different men who are both carrying quiet resentments and unspoken affection.

There are moments that feel deliberately unresolved, and a few dangling threads that never quite get tied off. Nothing major, but enough that the ending feels more like a pause than a full stop.

As an audiobook, Goyhood works well. Mike Lenz’s narration is easy to settle into and suits the material, striking a good balance between humour and introspection. The voice feels natural and unforced, and nothing ever pulled me out of the listening experience.

Hebrew terms and references sounded correct to my ear (at least I assume so since I don’t speak or understand it), or at least never registered as awkward or distracting, which helped maintain immersion.

Overall, Goyhood is a relaxed, good-natured listen that uses humour and a road-trip structure to explore questions of faith, identity, and family without becoming heavy-handed.

It’s not tightly plotted, and it doesn’t try to resolve everything neatly, but it was quietly satisfying spending time with these characters as they fumble their way toward understanding, both of themselves and each other.

The commonality of being Jewish

I liked everything about this story he is a great detailed storyteller and a great writer