How does a rabbi convert the entire U.S. to Judaism? The answer, of course, is by becoming a football hero, in this wild tale by Manus (Mott the Hoople). In the hilarious first chapter, Ziggy Cantor, a rabbinical school graduate and son of a Bronx rabbi, has fled to Holland to study Spinoza, to experiment with secular ideas, and to engage in his chief love--football--far from his father's critical orthodox eye. There he is discovered by a Giants scout, and Ziggy, a natural, becomes the Giants' quarterback who turns his team from a perennial loser to a Super Bowl winner, thereby pervading America with Jewish culture. Ziggy calls plays in Yiddish, the team wears Giants-logo yarmulkes, his grandmother serves chicken soup from the sidelines and his receiver, a cocksure swaggerer, even undergoes ritual circumcision in order to become a Jew. Still, Ziggy is dogged by murderously jealous teammates, by anti-Semites and especially by his own conscience: has he betrayed his tradition? Making love to a shiksa, playing a game on Yom Kippur and his father's death all bring up doubts. But in the end, Ziggy gets it all: the gentile lover, the Super Bowl victory, fortune and fame--and he still becomes a rabbi at the end. This is a typical sports and sex fantasy, replete with aggressive male bonding and the requisite model and cheerleader dream girls. The writing is not exactly hip--and the story is predictable, but Manus has a wonderful sense of humor, and for readers who can find comic relief with his underdog's predicament, he makes a field goal. (June)
