The Lehman Trilogy

A Novel

Stefano Massini

• Publisher: HarperVia
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9780062940469
• eBook ISBN:
  9780062940476
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literature General
• Index: Literature

Basis for the 2022 'Tony Award Best Play' winner

Magnificent in scope, internationally lauded, and transcendent, the novel in verse that inspired the sensational West End and Broadway play of the same name. The Lehman Trilogy follows the epic rise and fall of three generations of that infamous family and through them tells the story of American ambition and hubris. 

After leaving his native Bavaria, Henry Lehman arrives in America determined to make a better life. Sensing opportunity in the Deep South, he opens a textile shop in Alabama, laying the foundation for a dynasty that will come to dominate and define modern capitalism. Emanuel and his brother Mayer begin investing in anything and everything that will turn a profit, from cotton to coal to railroads to oil to airplanes—even at the expense of the very nation that forged them. 

Spanning three generations and 150 years, The Lehman Trilogy is a moving epic that dares to tell the story of modern capitalism through the saga of the Lehman brothers and their descendants. Surprising and exciting, brilliant and inventive, Stefano Massini's masterpiece—like Hamilton—is a story of immigration, ambition, and success; it is the story of America itself from a daring and original perspective.

Translated from the Italian by Richard Dixon 

Book Two

Fathers and Sons

1

The Black Hole

Yehuda ben Tema

in the Ethics of the Fathers

says:

fifty years to be prudent

sixty to be wise.

Emanuel Lehman

who is halfway between fifty and sixty

feels

without a doubt

both prudent and wise.

And he hasn’t the slightest doubt.

Since wisdom for him means action.

And prudence for him also means action.

Which is why

if those are the ingredients

then he

by his actions

keeps a tight hold on them.

And nothing more.

There again, how can anyone not be active

if he lives in the heart of New York?

Everything here is movement,

everything here is action

everything here is energy

and therefore an arm

always feels at home here.

All the more since now

the watchword

has become one, and only one: fuel.

Marvel of the modern age:

how have we managed so many years without thinking about it?

There’s only one distinction between man and the gods

and it’s the fact that man toils away.

The gods don’t labor

they never get out of breath

and this is because higher up

evidently

they have some constant form of energy.

Perfect.

Let this inspire us.

Let’s copy their example.

In other words, let’s give ourselves, give all humans,

a divine fuel!

Humanity will have no more limits

if we can power motors.

“This perhaps, who knows,

could be a good investment . . .”

Emanuel Lehman thought

when Mr. Wilcock, King of Coal,

invited him up North, to the mines,

if only just to see.

“I have to think it over”

Emanuel said to himself,

discovering that an arm

between the age of fifty and sixty

can even give himself time to think.

What a pity that this time

it hasn’t lasted long.

Just long enough to see

that even David, the hotheaded son of Aunt Rosa,

though still only in his twenties

runs out of energy after a while

and even manages to doze off,

bringing his antics to a halt

for a few hours.

Incredible to say:

David is like a startled horse

roaming around New York

from Manhattan to the suburbs

and from the suburbs to Queens,

David is in a constant whirl

and has such a burning fire inside

that makes him talk in a strange way:

“Heyyah! Uncle! Hi!

Heyyah! What d’you say? Will it rain?

You’re off out? No? Eh?

Staying in? Yes? Me? Well!

Dinner? My mother? Heyyah?

The horse? Where?

I’m off! Back this evening!

Heyyah! Okay! Bye!”

After which

if David is sitting down he’s always shifting his legs

and he gets up

and down again

and gets up

and down again

jerking the muscle...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Family Tree
• Book One—Three Brothers
• Book Two—Fathers and Sons
• Book Three—Immortal
• Epilogue
• Glossary of Hebrew and Yiddish Words
• A Note From the Translator
• Copyright
• About the Publisher