On the Bloomberg and Hey Alma lists of the most anticipated books of 2025

In a glorious debut, a boy confronts queer lust, shame, the threat of war and the plague of family on the day he becomes a man.

At a banquet hall, at the onset of war, Adam Weizmann’s bar mitzvah party turns into a glorious catastrophe. On the cusp of manhood—and the verge of a nervous breakdown—Adam braces for his special day, mired in family neuroses and national dysfunction.

In a chorus of voices, a fractious cast of well-wishers narrates Adam’s coming-of-age: his newly devout father and the mystic rituals he practiced on his young son; his best friend, Abbie, who points the way to joyful transgression; Khalil, the Palestinian poet, who offers a glimpse of a different way to be; and Adam himself, filled with shame and desire as he faces the brokenness of his world.

At once tender and lustful, a work of scathing satire and piercing insight, MAZELTOV is a wholly original vision of a young man’s quest to know his own heart.

Rights Sold:

USA: Holt (NA); UK: Footnote Press; Greece: Gutenberg/Dardanos; Israel: Am Oved

Reviews:

"Accomplished and beautifully written. With its generally melancholy and memorable tone, this excellent book will make readers feel lucky to discover it." ―Booklist

"Filmmaker Zuzovsky debuts with a shimmering novelization of his short film about an Israeli boy’s coming-of-age... An auspicious first outing." ―Publishers Weekly

"A sweet, sly, mournful, and horny coming of age, written with heart-on-the-sleeve and politics in the pants. Mazeltov's passionately talented author has more than earned his title's congratulations and his readers' acclaim." ―Joshua Cohen, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Netanyahus

"By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Eli Zuzovsky’s brilliantly observed novel offers a kaleidoscopic view of a young queer man’s life, his family and his times, through the lens of his bar mitzvah. Mazeltov is an unforgettable, virtuosic debut." ―Claire Messud, author of This Strange Eventful History

“Bold and ambitious in a way most purportedly 'political' fiction never is.” ―Chicago Review of Books