{"product_id":"mr-wizard","title":"Mr. Wizard: A Novel","description":"\n\u003cp\u003eTwo days before she dies, Jenny tells her son Phillip he might want to watch his drinking — he's half Irish, after all. A DNA test sends two middle-aged brothers on a genetic treasure hunt from Long Island to the west coast of Ireland, and into the question of what, exactly, makes us who we are.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePhillip and Spencer have grown up believing the same story everyone else believed: that they are the Jewish-American sons of their late father, killed in Vietnam, and their irrepressible, globe-trotting mother, Jenny. Two days before she dies, Jenny leans over to Phillip and — almost as an aside — suggests that since he's \u003cem\u003ehalf Irish\u003c\/em\u003e, he might want to be a little more careful about his drinking. That's the whole line. It's all she gives him.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA few weeks later, grief turns into curiosity, curiosity turns into a cheek swab, and a cheek swab turns into a plane ticket. Phillip drags his brother into what becomes a genetic treasure hunt — from Long Island living rooms to the windswept links of the west coast of Ireland — in search of a biological father who left no forwarding address and, it turns out, a family neither of them ever imagined.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePraise for Mr. Wizard:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\"The writing is knowing and engaging, wise about its cultural orientations, and driven to discoveries both reassuring and life-enhancing.\" — \u003cem\u003eMichael Curtis, Fiction Editor Emeritus, The Atlantic\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\"A hilarious and witty novel — a book that asks, with real generosity, what makes us who we are.\" — \u003cem\u003eRobert K. Brigham, Historian, Vassar College\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\"Captures the mystical, bonding qualities of golf — and the mysteries of the human heart.\" — \u003cem\u003eRobert Trent Jones Jr., Golf course architect\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\"Twists and turns like a double helix.\" — \u003cem\u003eTerri Cheney, New York Times bestselling author\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Mr-Wizard-Novel-Jeff-Wallach-ebook\/dp\/B086YW3F6F\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAlso available on Amazon →\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n","brand":"Jeff Wallach","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52144236691769,"sku":"BK-MRW-PB","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0991\/5000\/4537\/files\/1948598302.01._SCRMZZZZZZZ.jpg?v=1776218122","url":"https:\/\/www.jeffwallach.com\/products\/mr-wizard","provider":"Jeff Wallach — Author","version":"1.0","type":"link"}