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Synopsis
A Joyce Carol Oates Fiction Prize-winning writer presents the story of 10-year-old Gurion Maccabee, who throughout the course of four days is ejected from his latest Jewish day-school for acts of terrorist violence and messianic tendencies and launches the start of a revolution inside of a lockdown institution.
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Reviews
Only four days pass between the opening scene of boys waterboarding one another to the moment when 10-year-old Gurion Maccabee and his army attempt to take down their unfair school system, but in the dense, frenzied pages of Levin's outsized debut, those few days feel like forever. Gurion, who narrates and refers to the text as "a work of scripture," sees himself as the hero of a yet-to-be-recognized Jewish holiday that celebrates the birth of "perfect justice," and recruits an army of misfits and Torah scholars. But nothing happens quickly, and Levin is as content to tend to the screwy plot as he is to allow Gurion to go on extended digressions about Philip Roth and any number of other topics. Between the hubris it takes to expect readers to digest more than 1,000 pages about a tween who says "the likelihood that I was seemed to me to be increasing by the second" and the shoving in of e-mails, diagrams, and transcripts of television footage, the idea that this could be a great novel is overshadowed by the fact that this is a great big novel, shaggy and undisciplined, but with moments of brilliance.
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Levin’s enormous first novel is narrated by a hyper, megalomaniac prodigy, a 10-year-old boy named Gurion ben-Judah Maccabee who has skipped grades and been expelled for violent behavior from three Chicago schools. He is now in the CAGE program for problem students at Aptakisic Junior High, and even more determined to incite rebellion, if not an all-out holy war. Gurion is tough, wily, ferociously fluent in Jewish theology, an avid fan of Philip Roth and Jewish humor, verbally pyrotechnic, and bizarrely charismatic. His father is a civil rights lawyer who gets trampled by enraged Jews for defending a neo-Nazi; his mother is a former Israeli soldier, a mental health professional, and black. Spurred to assemble his children’s army by anti-Semitic hate crimes and the ongoing bloodshed in the Middle East, Gurion does not deny that he could be a potential messiah. Levin’s mammoth, riotous, Talmudic, impossibly excessive yet brilliant, mesmerizing, warmhearted, and hilarious work of chutzpah takes place over four feverish days but encompasses the whole of Israel’s battle for existence and the Jewish quest for home and peace. --Donna Seaman
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The Instructions
Seller: World of Books (was SecondSale), Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardback. Condition: Good. Beginning with a chance encounter with the beautiful Eliza June Watermark and ending, four days and 900 pages later, with the Events of November 17, this is the story of Gurion Maccabee, age ten: a lover, a fighter, a scholar, and a truly spectacular talker. Expelled from three Jewish day-schools for acts of violence and messianic tendencies, Gurion ends up in the Cage, a special lockdown program for the most hopeless cases of Aptakisic Junior High. Separated from his scholarly followers, Gurion becomes a leader of a very different sort, with righteous aims building to a revolution of troubling intensity. The Instructions is an absolutely singular work of fiction by an important new talent. Combining the crackling voice of Philip Roth with the encyclopedic mind of David Foster Wallace, Adam Levin has shaped a world driven equally by moral fervor and slapstick comedy--a novel that is muscular and exuberant, troubling and empathetic, monumental, breakneck, romantic, and unforgettable. Seller Inventory # CIN1934781827G
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The Instructions
Seller: World of Books Inc, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Hardback. Condition: Good. Beginning with a chance encounter with the beautiful Eliza June Watermark and ending, four days and 900 pages later, with the Events of November 17, this is the story of Gurion Maccabee, age ten: a lover, a fighter, a scholar, and a truly spectacular talker. Expelled from three Jewish day-schools for acts of violence and messianic tendencies, Gurion ends up in the Cage, a special lockdown program for the most hopeless cases of Aptakisic Junior High. Separated from his scholarly followers, Gurion becomes a leader of a very different sort, with righteous aims building to a revolution of troubling intensity. The Instructions is an absolutely singular work of fiction by an important new talent. Combining the crackling voice of Philip Roth with the encyclopedic mind of David Foster Wallace, Adam Levin has shaped a world driven equally by moral fervor and slapstick comedy--a novel that is muscular and exuberant, troubling and empathetic, monumental, breakneck, romantic, and unforgettable. Seller Inventory # CIN1934781827G
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The Instructions
Seller: Dream Books Co., Denver, CO, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: good. Gently used with minimal wear on the corners and cover. A few pages may contain light highlighting or writing, but the text remains fully legible. Dust jacket may be missing, and supplemental materials like CDs or codes may not be included. May be ex-library with library markings. Ships promptly! Seller Inventory # DBV.1934781827.G
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The Instructions
Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
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Hardcover. Condition: Fair. No Jacket. Missing dust jacket; Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G1934781827I5N01
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The Instructions
Seller: Better World Books: West, Reno, NV, U.S.A.
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Condition: Very Good. Pages intact with possible writing/highlighting. Binding strong with minor wear. Dust jackets/supplements may not be included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good. Seller Inventory # 2086907-6
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The Instructions
Seller: GoldBooks, Denver, CO, U.S.A.
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Hardcover. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # 56R28_36_1934781827
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THE INSTRUCTIONS [signed]
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Powell's Books Indiespensable, McSweeneys Rectangulars, San Francisco, 2010
ISBN 10: 1934781827
ISBN 13: 9781934781821
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Seller: Second Story Books, ABAA, Rockville, MD, U.S.A.
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Hardcover. Exclusive edition. Octavo, 1030 pages. In Very Good condition. Spine is grey with silver print and illustration. Price unclipped: "$29.00". Boards in grey paper, silver print, illustration. ISBN on copyright page: 9781936365197. Laid in: Interview with the author on cards in clear plastic envelope. Signed in ink by the author on the title page. NOTE: Shelved in Netdesk Column Z. 1409847. FP New Rockville Stock. Seller Inventory # 1409847
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The Instructions
Seller: Librería Pérez Galdós, Madrid, M, Spain
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Condition: leido. RUSTICA, BUEN ESTADO. Seller Inventory # 02285753
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The Instructions
Published by
McSweeney's, 2010
ISBN 10: 1934781827
ISBN 13: 9781934781821
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Hardcover
First Edition
Signed
Seller: Wallace Books, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Fine. No Jacket. 1st Edition. Signed First Edition. Powell's Indiespensible. This is the gray edition. Unlike many Indiespensible editions, this item was issued without a slipcase or indeed a dustjacket; and whereas other Indiespensible editions are accompanied by a booklet this item's additional materials are presented on loose note cards all of which are present. Item is in Fine condition. We ship promptly from the United States and in a box. Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # 38,374x
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The Instructions (Signed First Edition) (The Gray Edition)
Published by
McSweeney's (San Francisco), 2010
ISBN 10: 1934781827
ISBN 13: 9781934781821
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Hardcover
First Edition
Signed
Seller: Dan Pope Books, West Hartford, CT, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: As New. 1st Edition. First edition. First printing. Hardbound. Very fine in all respects, issued without dust jacket. A pristine unread copy. SIGNED BY AUTHOR on title, as simply LEVIN, as is his custom, with a pen-stroke across his printed name. The first printing was issued in three different colors: red, gray and blue. This is the GRAY edition. Purchased new and opened only for author signature. Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # 1210-44