Blasts from the Past: The Prince of West End Avenue by Alan Isler (1994)

Cover image for The Prince of West End Avenue by Alan IslerThis is the latest in a series of occasional posts featuring books I read years ago about which I was wildly enthusiastic at the time, wanting to press a copy in as many hands as I could.

When I considered The Prince of West End Avenue for a Blast from the Past post, I half expected it to have gone out of print. I’d probably still have included it but the old bookseller in me would prefer readers to have a chance of getting their hands on a copy if tempted to add it to their TBR and I’m delighted to say it’s still available.

When the residents of the Emma Lazarus Jewish retirement home decide to put on a production of Hamlet all kinds of intrigue, subterfuge and high drama ensue. Prompted by the new physical therapist’s startling resemblance to his first love, Otto Korner has started a journal in which he records the shenanigans of the cast, both on and off the stage. Plenty of room for some fun here and Isler provides it in abundance but woven through the novel are his memories of his previous life in Germany, his failed promise as a poet and the dreadful events which overtook his family making this much more than a just a comic novel. Despite Otto’s prickly, rather pompous voice, he succeeds in engaging our sympathy and never more so than at its close.

Given how much I enjoyed his novel, you’d think I would have read something else by Isler but somehow, I’ve never got around to it.

What about you, any blasts from the past you’d like to share?

You can find more posts like this here.

27 thoughts on “Blasts from the Past: The Prince of West End Avenue by Alan Isler (1994)”

  1. I haven’t heard of this writer, so thank you for the introduction. My blast from the past is David Thomson’s two beautiful autobiographies called Woodbrook and Nairn in Darkness and Light. I came across them when I started reading seriously in my younger days. He is such a sympathetic writer.

  2. I’d never so much as heard of this book! Putting on a Shakespeare production seems like rich fodder for fiction — as in Isabella Hammad’s Enter Ghost last year. I like the idea of a retirement home setting.

    1. Surprisingly, it was much hyped at the time but lived up to it, I’m pleased to say. You’re right about Shakespeare productions. Lots to explore and relate to the present day.

  3. jenniferbeworr

    How charming! I am visiting my mom at a retirement community. I’ll bet they’d be interested in acquiring a book like this. Fun and poignant, a great combo. Cheers

  4. This has been on my radar for a few years now, ever since the Backlisted podcast team devoted an episode to it back in 2019. I’d never heard of it before then (and I haven’t seen much about it since), so it’s great to see another recommendation here. I’m going to have to pick it up at some point as it seems right up my street. 🙂

  5. This sounds delightful! I’d definitely enjoy it. I was wondering the other day what had happened to Elizabeth Pewsey, whose novels I loved back in the 80s/90s. She wrote a series of novels around a community set in a particular (fictional) cathedral city location, and they were quirky and funny and very, very kind. She’s long out of print, though.

    1. Sometimes that kind of novel offers a welcome escape, doesn’t it? I don’t remember Elizabeth Pewsey’s novels but it sounds as if she offers a respite from the real world.

  6. This sounds like a fun companion for Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood (different play though). I’m torn on the idea of keeping the discussion focuessed on books still-in-print because it seems practical and, yet, depending what %age of your readers are overseas, sometimes second-hand purchasing networks make those OP books more accessible and less expensive.

Leave a comment ...

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.