Yiddish for Pirates by Gary Barwin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. In this weird, funny and sad book, Aaron, a 500 year-old parrot narrates the story of Moishe, young Jewish boy who runs away from home, becomes Aaron's companion, and together they run from the Spanish Inquisition, discover America, become pirates and look for love.

Ripe with satire and Yiddish commentary, I had trouble getting into the story, given the narrator's quirks. After a couple of chapters I internalized them, and had no problems picturing Aaron's and Moishe's story in my mind.

My only complaint is with the rather abrupt ending - Without spoiling anything I imagine it is to set up a sequel. Will look forward to it.


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