by Michael Lavigne
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Product Description
Not Me is a remarkable debut novel that tells the dramatic and surprising stories of two men–father and son–through sixty years of uncertain memory, distorted history, and assumed identity.
When Heshel Rosenheim, apparently suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, hands his son, Michael, a box of moldy old journals, an amazing adventure begins–one that takes the reader from the concentration camps of Poland to an improbable love story during the battle for Palestine, from a cancer ward in New Jersey to a hopeless marriage in San Francisco. The journals, which seem to tell the story of Heshel’s life, are so harrowing, so riveting, so passionate, and so perplexing that Michael becomes obsessed with discovering the truth about his father.
As Michael struggles to come to grips with his father’s elusive past, a world of complex and disturbing possibilities opens up to him–a world in which an accomplice to genocide may have turned into a virtuous Jew and a young man cannot recall murdering the person he loves most; a world in which truth is fiction and fiction is truth and one man’s terrible–or triumphant–transformation calls history itself into question. Michael must then solve the biggest riddle of all: Who am I?
Intense, vivid, funny, and entirely original, Not Me is an unsparing and unforgettable examination of faith, history, identity, and love.
From the Hardcover edition.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 COMPELLING AND POWERFUL, 2008-09-25
This novel was compelling and powerful. I could not put it down. Many weeks after having finished reading it, I am still haunted and disturbed by the book. The story is about atonement, forgiveness and redemption, themes that I am struggling with, and especially appropriate for this time of year, the Jewish New Year and Day of Atonement.
I strongly recommend this book.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Yes, you...., 2008-09-05
What a wonderful, enriching and though-provoking novel! I can't imagine a more clever premise, or a better choice for a book club this year. While I read it on my own, I am so thankful I have passed it along to others who have since read and loved it, because there is so much to talk about and share!
While the main focus of the story centers around the narrator's father's candid diaries of his transformation (for lack of a better word) from SS officer to devoted Jew, the thematic focus was less on how the reader would feel about this and more on how his son deals with these revelations. One of the most prevalent themes in this novel, which any reader can relate to, is the idea of having a secret and whether those around you know, avoid/deny knowing, or have "clues" about the secret or even the fact one exists. Indeed, the most interesting part of the modern-day storyline was the chapter in which the narrator examines whether he "knew" all along. He clearly didn't suspect as a child that his father was a former Nazi, but rather, whether he suspected growing up that things weren't always what they seemed.
I would have preferred the story to have had more of the father's diaries and his storyline and much less of the narrator's modern-day storyline, although it worked well and was a fast, compelling read nonetheless.
I HIGHLY recommend this novel to everyone who has ever had a secret, learned of a secret, or told a secret (which bascially includes everyone). I look forward to reading more from such a talented writer.
I also highly recommend "The Book Thief" and think the two books really compliement each other.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
If Not Me, then who?, 2008-06-19
A wonderful debut. Even though the structure gets a little strained at times, this moving story tells two tales, of a father and son. Other reviewers have outlined all the plot that should be revealed before reading the book, so I'll only add that this is a real page turner with heart. Not an easy task for a new writer.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Interesting and thought-provoking read, 2008-06-15
Can a man's later life and good deeds redeem him from the terrible things that he did in a prior life? Are bean counters during the Holocaust as guilty as murderers? This story of a supposedly community-minded Jewish Holocaust survivor who gives him son journals that tell of his life-long disguise when he passed himself off as Jewish but was really a Nazi will keep you interested and questioning.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Interesting premise, 2008-06-09
I started off loving this book, but it weighed down a bit in the middle. In the end, it was a satisfying read; a book to recommend, but not so compelling that I'm going to give it as gifts to friends/family. The story turned out to be more about the fight to establish Israel as an independent country than about Nazi Germany--perhaps this was where my interest waned a bit, as it started off as a story about a Nazi officer who posed as concentration camp survivor when the Germans were defeated.
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