Testimonials

“Max Zimmer has written The Great American Mormon Novel. For decades, readers have depended upon a few extraordinary writers to understand fully what it means to be an American – Philip Roth, Julia Alvarez, Ralph Ellison, Erica Jong, John Updike. Zimmer has added a critical new dimension to our shared national understanding of who we are and how we got here in this sweeping narrative. Twelve-year-old Shake Tauffler’s decade-long journey through the Mormon Church and beyond will resonate with all Americans who ponder their soul and place in our changing national portrait.”
– Michael Strong, literary agent and co-founder of Zola Books

“Max Zimmer writes beautifully. His prose has a natural rhythm and grace that is testimony to his having honed his craft for a long time so that it’s no longer just craft but real art. There are many scenes that are memorable and will stick with me forever.”
– Markus Hoffmann, literary agent, Regal Literary

“Just read the first chapter and I’m hooked. I feel the character and the voice is consistent and true. A pillow mint on every page. This journey will be rewarding. It also feels like the opening of a movie. Best book I’ve read in years.”
– George, Advertising Agency Director, Massachusetts

“What the author has been able to pull off so well is to tell a great and interesting story and incorporate into it the true Mormon doctrine without it seeming gratuitous or self-serving. The two components correspond and harmonize very, very well. I don’t think that that has been done before. The writing style is just brilliant with shrewd, clever, funny, and often beautiful metaphors and allegories and dialogue. I think you are going to fall in love with Shake just as I did.”
– Helen, Document Clerk, Salt Lake

“I truly immersed myself in Shake’s life. I missed him when I wasn’t reading. I wanted to go slow and make it last while I was reading. The only bad thing about the book is that it ended. I can’t wait for the journey to continue. This is the best book I’ve read in years.”
– Kim, Insurance Company Manager, West Virginia

“Max Zimmer has written an extraordinary revelation of life in a Mormon community in a way no one else has ever done. He allows Shake to discover both the good and the bad – the sublime and the evil – of the Mormon church and Utah society as he struggles to define himself in terms of his passion for the instrument God has given him. This is not the stuff of Big Love pyrotechnics; this is the real, compelling, and revealing look into the demands of the faith as Shake and his young friends take their first steps into adulthood. But the great craft of this book is that it neither demonizes nor sanctifies its characters. And it neither demonizes nor sanctifies the Mormon church and faith. Zimmer presents his wonderful, quirky, and often hilarious cast with affection for all their foibles and strengths.”
– Rolf Yngve, novelist, Any Watch They Keep, San Diego

“Other authors create a world and then expect me to believe in it. What makes Zimmer unique is that he writes his story and uses my world to tell it. This rarely happens with a novel and I didn’t want the book to end.”
– John, artist and media business owner, New Jersey

“I was pulled deep into the story, in many ways I became Shake as I felt I was growing up with him, the love, laughter, the friendships, rage, attractions, it was all way real. Everyone had at one time or another the bully jock kids after them. Hence, the power of the almighty finger rolling the jeep, I laughed to tears. Priceless! I liked it a lot. However, I do have the want to know, what becomes of this young man, Shake. I didn’t want it to end . . .”
– Alan, Truck Driver and Car Builder, Pennsylvania

“Diving into a story that shows another side of one of today’s relevant issues, many of those who find themselves reading those best-sellers every other week would have a rough time putting down this book. Coming from a family raised by LDS members, but never in it myself, I was astonished by the absolute rawness of that type of community, and how it really affects those involved. From a young naïve boy, to a grown man who eventually sees his intolerant, controlled lifestyle for what it is, Shake continues on through, only to gain vigor and confidence by the end of it. The sense of emotion from Shake hearing a trumpet for the first time, to the overwhelming darkness portrayed by getting baptized for deceased people, the author quickly and clearly provides the reader with every detail needed to feel the shame, anguish, confusion, and ultimate happiness and spirit in his character.”
– Sophie, College Sophomore, New Jersey

“If it isn’t the best novel I can remember ever reading, then it’s among the very best. I want to play Mr. Selby [the trumpet teacher] in the movie.”
– Ed, Professor and Jazz Trumpet Player, New Jersey

“I have returned from Florida. I read the entire thing and loved it! I continue to talk up the novel and, in fact, just finished reading The 19th Wife. While I found the story fascinating, the read was not nearly as good as Journey.”
– Debra, Attorney and Law Firm Owner, New Jersey

“I find this novel to be one of the greatest literary feats of the last fifty years. It follows in the footsteps of Mark Twain (Huckleberry Finn), Philip Roth (Portnoy’s Complaint), and John Knowles (Separate Peace). There have been many attempts at writing the quintessential Mormon novel in recent years. All of them cheapen the whole experience by either advocating or indicting Mormonism. In the end nobody cares. Journey is the first to make the story work for people of all religions. I think it’s because Zimmer just tells it straight and lets it speak for itself. The book explores themes like racism, bigotry, and organized religion, but Zimmer uses this great kid to do it, so it’s filled with humor, compassion, and heart-wrenching scenes that everyone will get. Like Steinbeck, who so convincingly wrote of the downtrodden, helpless Midwestern farm workers, Zimmer has written a novel that will appeal to Catholics, Baptists, Presbyterians, anyone who has had to confront their religious teachings and throw off the shackles and guilt that churches impose on their members.”
– Marvin, Professional Musician, Salt Lake

“My god, you can’t just leave me at the airport! You have to tell me what happens next!
– Marian, Retired Business Manager, New Jersey

“I love . . . love the music lessons. And the way Zimmer writes about music theory, modality, modulation, notes vs. tones, ‘numbered’ notes instead of letters, wonderful stuff. Even my dad would understand this! I want to go back to school for a degree in music now . . . I no longer want to kill Shake’s mom. She’s a symptom, not a cause.”
– Paul, Risk Management Company VP and Rock and Blues Guitar Player, New Jersey

“I have never heard the voice of God as clearly as in your novel.”
– Linda, Writer, Florida

“I’ve never read anything close to this before. It’s just astonishing. I don’t think Zimmer has any idea what he’s accomplished, or what’s about to happen, or the power this novel has. It’s going to help millions of people who grew up with abuse and repression and think they’re all alone. Shake is their guy.”
– Seth, Practicing Psychotherapist, New Jersey

“I am totally into the book. It’s awesome (and heartbreaking). Intriguing and totally mesmerizing. I think it is riveting. I get up at 5:30 in the morning so I can practice for an hour before work, and I think about Shake standing in the gravel pit playing his horn, freezing cold, learning one note at a time.”
– Theo, Musician, Vocalist, and Songwriter, New York

“Brother Clark is one of my favorite characters. I absolutely love all the church interactions. The scene where all the men were gathered to hear the live telecast from Temple Square was very vivid and colorful for me. I appreciate the details. Having sat in churches for a long period of time the bench really does start to feel like a slab of stone. The buildup to bringing out the trumpet was well written, I was able to relate to Shake’s fear that the trumpet would lead to something terrible.”
– Damon, Health and Physical Education Teacher, New Jersey

“Very hard to put down, even for supper. It had me crying (with pleasure and joy). The characters are solid, I want to kill Shake’s parents, especially his mother. Zimmer is telling a GREAT story.”
– Lew, Published Poet and Author and SUNY Professor, Maine

“This book will touch every human being who is blessed to read it, in the deepest parts of their hearts, pain, suffering, magic, all the incredible emotions of the human spirit, pain that countless people have buried so deeply that the novel will touch. The writing leaves no prisoners. It will lift the spirits of millions and send them beyond the rainbow, which in this wondrous, horrific, magical journey we call life is long overdue.”
– Marjorie, Artist and Legal Secretary, New Jersey

“The book is written beautifully, and I felt as though Shake was speaking directly to me, but I didn’t feel like he was asking me to agree with him, or judge him – but to just share what happened to him and how he experienced it. It’s as though he’s saying, ‘Anyway, here’s what happened. Here’s what I did.’ It’s a very intimate feeling reading this book. I was drawn in completely, for hours, because the situations seem so real, even familiar, yet they’re incredibly unique. Perhaps it’s the way the story is told that makes the book not just palatable to my mind, but truly delicious.”
– Toni, Business Owner, New Jersey

“Sometimes the language was so lyrical I thought I was reading poetry.”
– Joan, Spiritualist and Published Poet, Loving You A to Z, New Jersey

“Wow! I particularly enjoyed the trumpet and music stories intertwined throughout the book. I know the author had firsthand experience with the Mormon Church and as an erstwhile member I don’t think his bias showed. The facts said it all. Now I know why they emphasize genealogy. I truly felt I watched a little boy growing up into manhood within a very dysfunctional family and I felt great sympathy for him and his siblings who took the brunt of their mother’s wrath and unhappiness. The detail, descriptions, and dialogue are so real that it was difficult to believe he was making it up. I hope the domestic scenes were not autobiographical.”
– Marilyn, Ex-New Yorker, Volunteer Worker, Culture Buff, Oregon

“Jazz indeed. There is a certain and deadly grace about Zimmer’s writing that is hard to put down. Nothing mean or malicious, mind you, but something hard and sharp moving through layers of thin, gauzy membrane to expose flesh, like you’d flip out the pages of gill near the head of a fish you’d caught, for someone to see before you send it back to water.”
– Bob, Professor and Author, The Nonfiction Novel, Connecticut

“At parts I wanted to read it slowly so it would last longer and re-read sections just because the writing is so good I wanted to live in them. Zimmer’s detail is unrivaled. At other parts I could not turn the pages fast enough, trying to find out what could possibly happen next and how could this possibly work out. The story so perfectly shows the unresolvable nature of inhumanity. The way Zimmer keeps bringing these conflicts to greater and greater peaks of tension is brilliant.”
– Nik, Massage Therapist and Published Poet and Performer, Red Bandana, Vermont