Nussbaum, Jay 1960-

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Nussbaum, Jay 1960-

PERSONAL:

Born January, 1960, in New York, NY; married; wife's name Betty; children. Education: Brandeis University, B.A.; Boston University School of Law, J.D. Hobbies and other interests: Martial arts (earned a black belt in karate, 1991).

ADDRESSES:

Home—New York, NY.

CAREER:

Writer, novelist, educator, and attorney. Worked as a real estate lawyer in New York, NY, and as general counsel of a mortgage bank. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, educator. Owner of a martial arts school and instructor in martial arts, 1992—. Served as a high school basketball coach in Reading, MA.

WRITINGS:

Blue Road to Atlantis (novel), Warner Books (New York, NY), 2002.

A Monk Jumped over a Wall (novel), Toby Press (New Milford, CT), 2007.

Author's works have been translated into Japanese, Italian, and Korean.

ADAPTATIONS:

Blue Road to Atlantis was adapted to audiotape by Books on Tape.

SIDELIGHTS:

Novelist Jay Nussbaum is a former real estate lawyer who gave up the legal profession to pursue his passion for writing. In an interview with Kevin Holtsberry on the Collected Miscellany Web site, Nussbaum admitted: "I never belonged in the world of commercial real estate law to begin with—my heart was always in writing—but I fell under the same financial spell as do many people." As an attorney, however, he achieved considerable success. In addition to his legal practice in real estate, he also served as senior vice president and general counsel of a major New York mortgage bank. While there, "he closed the largest deal in the bank's history, estimated at fifty-two million dollars total," noted the author's home page.

When not engaged in his professional responsibilities, Nussbaum pursued twin interests in writing and martial arts. He earned his black belt in karate in 1991, and has since operated his own martial arts school and has taught and trained in locations around the world. When his wife, Betty, was accepted to veterinary school at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, Nussbaum happily traded the high-stress life of a New York lawyer for the calmer, if less lucrative, life of a novelist in a mid-sized college town. There, he continued to train and to write, occasionally teaching a class in Taoism and martial arts at Cornell, and produced his first novel, Blue Road to Atlantis. In the book, Nussbaum reimagines the classic tale of Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea, this time told from the perspective a friend of the fish that Santiago, the old Cuban fisherman pursued to the end. The narrator is a remora named Fishmael, who is close friends with Santiago's doomed marlin, called Old Fish. For years, Old Fish has harbored a dream of traveling to Atlantis to commune with the mystical Great Spotted Dolphins who live there, but he has so far not undertaken the journey. When a dangerous red tide threatens the sea life community, Old Fish is elected to go to Atlantis and seek help from the dolphins. Though this assignment seems to be a fulfillment of a lifelong dream, his old patterns emerge, and he is distracted from his mission. When he seeks to help a young fish avoid harm by taking a fisherman's bait, Old Fish himself ends up firmly attached to the hook, at the other end of which is Santiago the fisherman. As the story progresses and the two protagonists try in vain to dislodge the hook, they encounter a variety of seagoing characters who need the wisdom generated by the life-and-death counter between fish and fisherman—none, perhaps, more desperately than Old Fish himself.

In describing the aquatic philosophy at the heart of the book, Nussbaum mused to Holtsberry, "Every human being has an inner current, which it is their sacred obligation to discover and follow. To swim against it is possible for a while, but inevitably, the arms tire and the body drowns." Nussbaum continued: "On the other hand, [for] those who swim with their current, while it doesn't necessarily lead in linear fashion to their dreams of today, it creates an expression of them that is their highest potential self." In the end, Nussbaum remarked, there is circularity to the connections one experiences in life. "Happiness without harm is the goal as I see it, and I believe that the circles are the way to a happy life. Find your circles to know your current. Follow your current to enable your highest self."

Holtsberry called the novel a "lighthearted yet moving allegory about leading a more fulfilling life. By setting forth the idea that the quest for a higher vision and the acceptance of life's currents brings true peace and happiness, this contemporary tale becomes a profound meditation that is as entertaining as it is transformational."

A Monk Jumped over a Wall, Nussbaum's second novel, hearkens back to his years in the legal field as he tells the story of J.J. Spencer, an outwardly successful New York attorney who becomes disillusioned when he sees firsthand the soulless greed and lack of compassion that can accompany the pursuit of wealth. As part of his practice, Spencer finds himself representing a ruthless and morally void investor who has purchased a number of defaulted mortgages and is engaged in systematically foreclosing on them and evicting people from their homes. Driven by his conscience, Spencer provides some helpful information to one unfortunate couple. This act of generosity, however, has serious repercussions for him: he is charged with violating attorney-client confidentiality, and is soon fired from his high-powered, high-paid job. Unwilling to simply admit defeat, Spencer soon finds himself battling to save his career and the couple's home. Throughout the story, Nussbaum explores Spencer's youth and professional development, highlighting aspects that ultimately prove he possesses stronger character and a better-developed moral sense than his initial career choice would suggest.

"Nussbaum moves the story deftly between the past and present, intertwining story lines and developing appealing characters along the way," commented Esther Hammer in the Tampa Tribune. In the book, Nuss- baum "engages the complex moral questions this crisis precipitates with courage and integrity," commented Library Journal reviewer Patrick Sullivan. A Kirkus Reviews critic called the novel "bittersweet and unflinchingly real."