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Author: Ami Silber

ISBN: 13: 978 159264 241-0

Publisher: The Toby Press

In her debut novel, Early Bright Ami Silber features a protagonist who was not exactly a decent human being or, if you are familiar with Yiddish, a mensch.

Louis Greenberg is a twenty something jazz pianist who in 1948 was a transplant from the Bronx to Los Angeles. Louis, however, is also a creative con artist who preys on grieving widows and mothers of fallen soldiers. His mentor had described him as someone who is clever hunger and his belief in himself was at the expense of everyone around him.  In fact, Louis bragged that the very first con he pulled was on Uncle Sam for he was turned down by the draft and classified as 4-F as being “a poor physical specimen that wouldn’t even make it through boot camp.” Louis always made sure to keep his 4-F papers with him wherever he set foot. 

Louis always longed to have his father’s approval, however, this dream ended when he left the induction center and informed his father Ernest that he was not wanted due to his poor physical condition. Ernest was devastated that his son was not going to participate in the war. Our protagonist came to the conclusion that it was useless to hang around a dingy east side New York apartment with his parents, two sisters and grandmother and he set out for California. He had better things to do with his life than toiling as an employee for pittance in a cardboard box factory as was the case with his father whom he felt was a failure. Louis wondered why his father never had enough gumption to make something of himself besides shuffling papers, “if not for his own gratification, then why not think of everyone who depended on him.”

In addition to being a con man, Louis was a gifted jazz pianist and he performed in the black underground jazz clubs of Central Avenue in Watts. To Louis music wasn’t a con for as he asserts: “It was all on the level, the straight shit. The only thing in my life that I could say that about.”  What was amazing was that even though he may have been considered an outsider, he succeeded in being accepted by black musicians-something unheard of at the time. Furthermore, Louis had a girlfriend, Beatrice, and as racism was quite rampant in California, it wasn’t acceptable to be seen with a black girlfriend. In fact, Louis and Beatrice were forced to sneak around and be discreet for fear of being discovered.  

As we discover, Louis’s scamming and perverse behavior didn’t always turn out as he had intended, particularly when it involved not so innocent women as Nora Edwards. In fact, he had difficulty sometimes in keeping his stories straight, particularly that he was in love with Beatrice and at the same time was dallying with Nora, who didn’t have the foggiest notion as to where he came from or what he really did for a living. All she knew was that he was supposed to have been a buddy of her late husband during the war.  Although Louis may have prevailed in taking advantage of Nora, he surely didn’t grasp that this deceitful relationship with her would one day prove to be agonizing in more ways than one.

In her assured and engaging debut, Silber shines with her vivid depiction and insights of the jazz scene that existed on the West Coast during the 1940s- something that many readers have little knowledge. Early Bright is also as much a piece of social history and cultural interpretation as it is a novel, but much more interesting, as Silber’s characters speak with authentic voices. Her ear for vernacular dialogue is amazingly razor-sharp and is no doubt an attestation to the many books she read from this era. Silber also does a superb job in creating two living, breathing worlds, that of the con artist and another of the passionate jazz musician, both quite different, yet each having some common elements. One more comment I have is that it would have been helpful to have a glossary of the Yiddish terms that Silber sprinkles throughout the narrative. Not all readers, (fortunately I am not one of them), are familiar with these colorful words and something is lost when you don’t understand them.

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The above review was contributed by: The Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com, Norm Goldman, B.A. LL.L, Retired Title Attorney: Norm is also a travel writer and together with his artist wife, Lily, the couple meld Norm's words with Lily's art. To check out their travel site click on Sketchandtravel.com   Click here to view Norm’s Reviews & Interviews.