I Made It Out of Clay

Evie Goodman is stressed. She doesn’t have a date for the wedding of her perfect sister Rosie, her social and romantic life is in tatters, her job is threatening layoffs, and she is about to turn 40. To solve at least one of these problems, she builds a tall, gorgeous golem named Paul Mudd. Though he speaks mainly in grunts, Paul and Evie are magically able to communicate. Evie brings Paul to Rosie’s wedding, where the golem’s compulsion to protect leads to near disaster. Evie neutralizes Paul, the wedding attendees suffer collective amnesia, and her life improves in every way. Kander’s (“Original Syn Trilogy”) frothy adult debut has the makings of a light Chanukah romantic comedy, complete with awkward encounters with a neighbor who is a “Jewnicorn” (he’s Jewish, British, single, and hot). However, Evie’s frustrating behavior toward family and friends can be irritating, and far too many plot points rely on her never reading her texts, listening to her voicemails, or letting people finish sentences. [We found an editorial error in the original review; this online version has been corrected.]