Review by Frank Plowright
Novelist Mike Gold published Jews Without Money in 1930, the midst of Depression-era USA, providing a candid look at what the Jewish community in New York’s lower East Side experienced and how they survived from day to day. Hank Schnitzel’s title, then is a play on Gold’s novel from a century earlier, but otherwise there’s little connection.
Schlomo was once Brad, but since embracing the Jewish faith he’s changed his name to something appropriate. He works as a banking software engineer, but his dream is to sell his film script based on the eccentricities of a 17th century Jewish figure who styled himself as a messiah. When the financial markets go into meltdown Schlomo is torn between developing codes to mitigate the damage and a new opportunity regarding his film project.
There is a continuous thread to Jews Without Enough Money, but Schnitzel is a discursive writer, and an unorthodox one. He can spend several pages discussing obscure Jewish lore, then gloss over climate disasters ravaging the planet in a single panel. Sixteen pages are devoted to Schlomo’s film script, not counting the time spent beforehand explaining it, and much of what’s explained at length appears irrelevant.
If the writing is untethered, then the art is all over the place. It’s only at the end that credit pages reveal dozens of artists recruited via gig platforms were seemingly supplied with individual panels rather than story sections. As can be seen on the sample pages, six different artists are involved on a single six panel page, a layout Schnitzel rarely varies. It means between panels night can become day and the characters change what they’re wearing or driving. The result is extraordinarily messy with some artists patently more talented than those their work appears alongside.
There’s possibly some satirical point to the provocative title beyond echoing Gold’s novel, but if so it’s not clarified in this meandering and confusing graphic novel in which Schnitzel never develops a focus. There’s deep research or knowledge here, both of Jewish legend and financial programming, but despite footnotes neither is easily understood. No sooner has one dense explanatory page been assimilated then another follows, and it may all make sense to Schnitzel, but he can’t convey it. The result is no-one will care about Schlomo or his predicaments as they float several levels above basic comprehension.
When all is said and done it doesn’t matter as the ending is feeble and thoughtless, the most obvious method of not bothering. It’s a kick in the teeth to anyone who has actually become invested in Schlomo and what he’s up to.
In places this seems satirical, but if that’s the case the objects of satire are so obscure it’s not clear. And what does the subtitle of An Anti-Agile Agenda mean? There are parallels to The Room, an incomprehensible film that only made sense to its producer and star, yet that was surely never Schnitzel’s intention.
Jews Without Enough Money isn’t available from online booksellers, so if you want a copy you need to contact Metic Press.
