JOHN J. CLAYTON

Works

Mitzvah Man


Boston businessman Adam Friedman goes a little crazy—or becomes a little holy—after the death of his beloved wife. He becomes a very different kind of superhero. In a frenzy of mitzvot—good deeds, commandments—he saves lives and helps the needy. His teenage daughter begins to wonder if there isn't something more than a shared joke to the Mitzvah Man T-shirt she has designed for him. When Friedman is propelled into the headlines, followers gather on his doorstep. Voices, dreams, and auras visit him. Miracles occur among family, friends, and strangers alike. But while some hail the Mitzvah Man as a modern-day prophet, others brand him a madman, and he is in danger of losing custody of his daughter. Through his experiences of love and loss, beauty and pain, Friedman's daily quest reveals the unexpected ways in which God may inhabit us.

Selected Fiction

Mitzvah Man
Boston businessman Adam Friedman goes a little crazy—or becomes a little holy—after the death of his beloved wife.
Wrestling with Angels: New and Collected Stories
Most of Clayton's stories published in magazines and collected here for the first time; and all stories in his two published collections.
Kuperman’s Fire
A novel about Jewish heritage and about criminal evil. 2007
The Man I Never Wanted to Be
Story of a gentle, liberal professor who has to cope with a man of violence. 1998
What Are Friends For?
Love story of a seventies radical and an older woman. 1979
Radiance: Ten Stories
Runner-up for National Jewish Book Award in 1998.
Bodies of the Rich
Short stories, mostly Jewish including those appearing in O.Henry and Best American Stories collections. 1984.