Dreams Bigger Than the Night

A Novel

by Paul M. Levitt

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Pub Date Aug 04 2015 | Archive Date Aug 04 2015

Rowman & Littlefield | Taylor Trade Publishing

General Fiction (Adult)

Description

Set during the Great Depression, when fascism was looking increasingly attractive to many, Paul M. Levitt’s latest novel surrounds attempts to boycott the 1936 Berlin Olympics and the counterforces at work: the American–Nazi Party, Avery Brundage, a German assassin, and those American athletes—eighteen of whom were the first black athletes hoping to compete—wishing to show the world their superb talents. When a young woman in the employ of Abner “Longie” Zwillman, the Don of New Jersey, goes missing, Jay Klug and his friend T-Bone Searle try to find her before she falls victim to a brutal Nazi killer. Their journey leads them to the man who reputedly killed the famous gangster Arnold Rothstein (the big bankroll), to Jean Harlow, Dreamland, Cape May, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Amarillo, and even Los Angeles.

Paul M. Levitt, professor of English at the University of Colorado at Boulder, teaches modern drama, theatre history, and the gangster novel. He has written more than twenty books (five of them novels), radio plays for the BBC, books about medicine, stories for children, and numerous scholarly and popular articles. He lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Set during the Great Depression, when fascism was looking increasingly attractive to many, Paul M. Levitt’s latest novel surrounds attempts to boycott the 1936 Berlin Olympics and the...

A Note From the Publisher

This is a set of uncorrected page proofs. It is not a finished book and is not expected to look like one. Errors in spelling, page length, format and so forth will all be corrected by the time the book is published several months from now. Uncorrected proofs are primarily useful so that you, the reader, might know months before actual publication what the author and publisher are offering. If you plan to quote the text in your review, you must check it with the publicist or against the final version. Please contact publicity@rowman.com with any questions. Thank you!

This is a set of uncorrected page proofs. It is not a finished book and is not expected to look like one. Errors in spelling, page length, format and so forth will all be corrected by the time the...

Advance Praise

Dreams Bigger Than the Night is a deft murder mystery, a nifty history lesson, an insightful moral fable, a captivating love story, and a terrific, fun book. A veritable who’s who of famous mobsters pirouette through a story that swirls around the campaign to boycott the 1936 Berlin Olympics, but we soon see they are not the real criminals of the years leading to World War II.
— H. Bruce Franklin, the John Cotton Dana Professor of English and American Studies, Rutgers University

Paul M. Levitt is a master at rescuing tales from the shadows of history. His exuberant new novel, superbly crafted and the result of prodigious research, is a luge ride through the 1930s world of Jewish gangsters, Nazis, Communists, Hollywood, and more. A mix of history and fantasy, Dreams Bigger Than the Night strikes off sparks of brilliance in a story told through dialogue that is racy, musical, and street-tough.
— Alan Wald, professor emeritus of English and American culture, University of Michigan

In Dreams Bigger Than the Night, Paul M. Levitt paints a caustic portrait of urban life in New Jersey in the 1930's, detailing how the conflicting sides of a stressed society are brought to a sharp point; from the recovery from the Great Depression, to the many immigrant groups striving for the American dream, to the rising gangster underworld, and the political-religious struggle over American participation in the 1936 Olympic Games in Nazi Germany.
— Berel Lang, professor emeritus of philosophy, State University of New York at Albany

Dreams Bigger Than the Night is a deft murder mystery, a nifty history lesson, an insightful moral fable, a captivating love story, and a terrific, fun book. A veritable who’s who of famous...

Available Editions

EDITION	Hardcover
ISBN	9781630760786
PRICE	$26.95 (USD)

Additional Information

Average rating from 7 members

Featured Reviews

beth e, Librarian

Dreams Bigger than the Night is a well-written book set in the 1930s, during the great depression. It is centered around the fascism of the Nazis and the issue of Americans boycotting the German held Olympics. The many complications of choosing, including the lost chance of the American athletes, some of whom were Black, are explored. The American Nazi party attempts to thwart the protest and dirty politics further muddy the water. A missing young woman, feared to be held captives by this Nazi group, centers the story and the ensuing search for her turn this book into a mystery. I highly recommend this book.