Isler, Alan: The Prince of West End Avenue

Debut novel set in a Jewish old people's home in New York. The book has already achieved recognition, winning the 1994 National Jewish Book Award and reaching the Booker Prize shortlist of twelve. The book's main character is trying to stage a production of Hamlet featuring his fellow residents. Running through this are tales of his adventures in America, Germany, Zurich and Auschwitz. Masterly, imaginative and provocatively disturbing in its effortless transitions between the comic and the tragic. Guardian.