At a banquet hall, at the onset of war, Adam Weizmann’s bar mitzvah party turns into a glorious catastrophe. On the cusp of manhood – and the verge of a nervous breakdown – Adam has been bracing for his special day, mired in family neuroses and national dysfunction.
In a chorus of voices, a fractious cast of well-wishers narrates Adam’s coming-of-age in Israel: his newly devout father and the mystic rituals he practiced on his young son; his best friend, Abbie, who points the way to joyful transgression; Khalil, a Palestinian poet, who offers a glimpse of a different way to be; and Adam himself, filled with shame and desire as he faces the brokenness of his world.
At once tender and lustful, a work of scathing satire and piercing insight, MAZELTOV is a truly original vision of a young man’s quest to know his own heart.
‘Shimmering’ – Publishers Weekly
‘Each part of the novel is accomplished and beautifully written. With its generally melancholy and memorable tone, this excellent book will make readers feel lucky to discover it. Mazeltov to them!’ – Booklist
‘A sweet, sly, mournful, and horny coming of age, written with heart-on-the-sleeve and politics in the pants. Mazeltov’s passionately talented author has more than earned his title’s congratulations and his readers’ acclaim’ – Joshua Cohen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of THE NETANYAHUS
‘By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Eli Zuzovsky’s brilliantly observed novel offers a kaleidoscopic view of a young queer man’s life, his family and his times, through the lens of his bar mitzvah. Mazeltov is an unforgettable, virtuosic debut.’ – Claire Messud, author of THIS STRANGE EVENTFUL HISTORY
Eli Zuzovsky holds degrees from Harvard and Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. In 2022, he was selected for the Forbes Israel 30 Under 30 list and the London Library Emerging Writers Programme, and he is the winner of the 2025 Einstein Fellowship. His films and plays have been shown at the New York Jewish Film Festival, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, the American Repertory Theater, and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, among others. Mazeltov is his first novel.
