Overview
Two of the twelve Book Club discussion questions at the back of the book: How does the story of Cain and Abel relate to the themes of the novel? What are the various ways characters interpret Cain's question, ""Am I my brother's keeper?"" Did any of the interpretations surprise you? Why? Epigenetics, the subject of Steve Flemm's fictitious book in the novel, examines how environmental factors like trauma influence genes and how such genetic changes can be passed down to subsequent generations. How does trauma--inherited, personal, or societal--affect various characters' behaviors in the novel? How does inherited trauma affect the community of the synagogue as a whole? Do you think the concept illuminates the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East and the international response to the events of October 7?
Full Product Details
Author: Nathaniel Popkin
Publisher: New Door Books
Imprint: New Door Books
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 1.90cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.408kg
ISBN: 9781735558592
ISBN 10: 1735558591
Pages: 249
Publication Date: 05 May 2026
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Not yet available
This item is yet to be released. You can pre-order this item and we will dispatch it to you upon its release.
Reviews
""PARTLY STRONG, PARTLY BROKEN deftly untangles a brutal conundrum with empathy and insight, and embodies the painful but necessary work of meeting trouble with our hearts open. Nathaniel Popkin is the bold, compassionate voice this moment needs."" --Stephanie Feldman, author of SATURNALIA --Stephanie Feldman ""Stephanie Feldman"" (10/13/2025 12:00:00 AM) ""The humanity of this novel! Nathaniel Popkin directly confronts the tensions, contradictions, warm affinities and bitter anguish that mark the American Jewish attachment to Israel. With compassion and spiritual feeling, Popkin probes the hearts of a New Jersey congregation as it stands on the cusp of October 7 and the Gaza War."" --Ken Kalfus, author of A HOLE IN THE STORY --Ken Kalfus ""Ken Kalfua"" (10/27/2025 12:00:00 AM)
Author Information
Partly Strong, Partly Broken is Nathaniel Popkin's fourth novel and eighth book. He is also the co-editor of the anthology Who Will Speak for America? In the novels The Year of the Return and Everything Is Borrowed and in the book-length essay To Reach the Spring (winner of the Firebird Book Award), Popkin examines intersections of Jewish ideals and lived realities. Popkin is a writer and producer of history documentary films, the co-founder of the website and public history and journalism project Hidden City, and formerly a writer of criticism for the Wall Street Journal, Kenyon Review, Public Books, and Cleaver Magazine, among other publications. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Tablet, and Gulf Coast.
