When We Argued All Night by Alice Mattison Book Review

Alice Mattison's new novel, When We Argued All Night, was published by Harper Perennial on June 12, 2012. Placing imaginary people in real situations, When We Argued All Night

In 1930, Artie Saltzman and Harold Abramovitz, Jewish young men from Brooklyn, attend a Communist rally in Union Square. Artie hopes to photograph it; Harold is curious. A riot breaks out and the police smash Artie’s camera and many people’s heads. Through decades of experiences that are sometimes startling now, sometimes all too familiar, Artie and Harold and their families live their lives.

Harold reads news stories about the Nazis’ treatment of the Jews, and is horrified when he finds himself using the stories to get the attention of women. He joins the Communist Party in the thirties; in the fifties, his and Artie’s jobs as New York City schoolteachers are threatened because of their past lefty connections. In the years of the Vietnam war, Artie’s daughter Brenda struggles with her own insecurities as well as anti-war feeling. When Harold is an old man, a book he writes has a surprising fate involving a rising politician, Barack Obama. What endures are friendship, family, and love. When We Argued All Night presents in telling detail characters who are sometimes tragic and sometimes comic, but always both lovable and flawed—that is, human. asks how people manage to be friends, how they endure the people they love, and how any of us can make sense of history.

My Thoughts:  Chronicling the lives of two men from 1936 to 2004, Mattison's When We Argued All Night brings to life the complexity of friendship.  I absolutely adored Artie and Harold.  As different as the gentlemen are from one another, there is a common thread which bonds them together for decades.  We see them struggle with job loss, marriage, parenthood, all those things families typically endure.  It's just a good book.  After reading the last chapter I could imagine Harold and Artie arguing one last time as the world changed yet again.  

When We Argued All Night features P.S. Read Exclusive – a little bit more about author, Alice Mattison, an interview with the author about this book + commentary on Mattison’s other works

Online:  Visit author Alice Mattison online at www.alicemattison.com

Buy it: When We Argued All Night is available at bookstores or click here to locate an online retailer near you.

Many thanks to Harper Perennial for providing a review copy of this book.  For more information on When We Argued All Night or more Harper Perennial publications, visit Harper Perennial online at www.harperperennial.com

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book for review purposes.  The views expressed above are mine.  Click here for the Disclosure Policy of Three Boys and an Old Lady blog.