I enjoyed this book, but do admit that I am not a fan of the war scenes - descriptions of the bombing flights over Europe and Germany. The book tells a good story, however, about a man's search to find meaning in his difficult life, and to explain that to the outside world. Here's the synopsis from Westchester Libraries Website:
Poxl West fled the Nazis' onslaught in Czechoslovakia. He escaped
their clutches again in Holland. He pulled Londoners from the Blitz's
rubble. He wooed intoxicating, unconventional beauties. He rained fire
on Germany from his RAF bomber.
Poxl West is the epitome of
manhood and something of an idol to his teenage nephew, Eli Goldstein,
who reveres him as a brave, singular, Jewish war hero. Poxl fills Eli's
head with electric accounts of his derring-do, adventures and romances,
as he collects the best episodes from his storied life into a memoir.
He
publishes that memoir, Skylock, to great acclaim, and its success takes
him on the road, and out of Eli's life. With his uncle gone, Eli throws
himself into reading his opus and becomes fixated on all things Poxl.
But
as he delves deeper into Poxl's history, Eli begins to see that the
life of the fearless superman he's adored has been much darker than he
let on, and filled with unimaginable loss from which he may have not
recovered. As the truth about Poxl emerges, it forces Eli to face
irreconcilable facts about the war he's romanticized and the vision of
the man he's held so dear.
Daniel Torday's debut novel, "The
Last Flight of Poxl West, " beautifully weaves together the two
unforgettable voices of Eli Goldstein and Poxl West, exploring what it
really means to be a hero, and to be a family, in the long shadow of
war.
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