Landsman, Peter Charles Melman
Landsman, Peter Charles Melman
List: $29.95 | Sale: $20.97
Club: $14.97

Landsman

Author: Peter Charles Melman

Narrator: Daniel Oreskes

Unabridged: 11 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/01/2007

Synopsis

In the summer of 1853, in Lafayette City, Louisiana, eleven-year-old Elias Abrams loses his mother to yellow fever. Grief-stricken and alone, he becomes embroiled in the street life of New Orleans. After Elias is falsely accused of a crime, and in order to escape arrest, he enlists in the Third Louisiana Regiment, where three thousand other Jews will ultimately fight for the Confederacy. Before long, though, Elias' past catches up with him, and he realizes that he must face his demons, or lose the woman he loves.

About Peter Charles Melman

Peter Charles Melman was raised in Louisiana, where he earned his doctorate in creative writing from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He currently teaches English at Hunter College High School in New York and lives in Brooklyn.

About Daniel Oreskes

Daniel Oreskes is a narrator as well as a film, television, and stage actor. He has earned two AudioFile Earphones Awards for his narrations and has twice been a finalist for the Audie Award, including for 2012 Audiobook of the Year. His several film roles include The Thomas Crown Affair and Day Zero, and his many television credits include episodes of  Law & Order. He has acted on Broadway in Electra and Aida and in the off-Broadway Arthur Miller play Mr. Peters’ Connections with Peter Falk, as well as in numerous Shakespeare performances. A native New Yorker, he trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Rosemary on December 10, 2007

At the 2007 Louisiana Book Festival,I had the pleasure of hearing Peter Melman speak about his new novel LANDSMAN and was moved by his passion for historical fiction. Of course, I bought an autographed copy. Then, within hours of the conclusion of the festival, I was in the hospital caring for my da......more

Goodreads review by Lisa on March 11, 2008

Characters are brilliantly drawn, plot moves gracefully through history, culture, class, maturity and an unexpected love story. For me, historical fiction can be so, well, predictable. This is not. LANDSMAN is beautiful, engrossing, funny and heartwrenching in all the right parts. Can't wait for the......more

Goodreads review by Elena on January 28, 2008

This book is beautifully written. It's gritty, violent, romantic, and heatbreaking. I would recommend it to anyone interested in History, The Civil War, Jewish History, and love stories. Visually stunning. And the author's hot!......more

Goodreads review by Teresa on December 22, 2021

I listened to the unabridged audio edition. I love reading historical fiction. This book introduced me to aspects of life in Civil War America that I'd never considered. The story is brutal so I can't say I "enjoyed" it. But I'm very glad I listened to it.......more

Goodreads review by Sam on September 17, 2017

Landsman is one of the best Civil War novels I've read in a while (keep in mind that it was published in 2007) for reasons that I did not really expect. As it turns out, this is a novel about a young man who grew up on the streets and who only joins the Confederate Army in order to escape the city o......more

Quotes

“What could be more worth of praise than a novelist who takes something that everyone's already looked at and considers it from the other side of the telescope in a way that's both unique and mesmerizing...Peter Melman has crafted a sensitive, important story with a debut worth making a big fuss over.” M. J. Rose, author of  The Reincarnationist

“Much remains untold about the impact of Southern Jews in the Civil War; Landman invites us into this rich, lost world that once was, though the power of one man’s story.” Robert Hicks, author of The Widow of the South

“Melman’s tale is meticulously researched, but the details of his narrative—the lay of the Missouri and Arkansas battlefields, the rush and roar of battle, the delicate waltz and lingo of innocent young love—Only season it; they do not bury it…Landsman is an undeniably fine and absorbing first novel by a promising talent.” Oregonian

“At times ribald and always real, Melman creates a rich and authentic story.” Booklist

“Melman has mixed a sumptuous blend of all the elements of classic storytelling to create a profoundly satisfying work.” BookPage

“Landsman is both eartly and mystic, with themes of patricide, betrayal, and hope brought to satisfying and human resolution.” BookSense

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List