Joel Burcat’s dad was a modern-day Renaissance man.
A World War II Navy corpsman who became a dentist in Lansdowne just outside Philadelphia, David S. Burcat also earned a master’s degree in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania.
Intellectually curious, David Burcat could read a full-length novel in two days but was equally at home turning a wrench under the hood of a car.
He was a jogger before jogging was cool, played tennis and golf, loved classical music and playing saxophone, and adored the Philadelphia Phillies.
So, it was no great surprise when Joel discovered that his late father, in 1950, had written an unfinished and unpublished novella, buried in a stack of old papers unceremoniously bequeathed to Joel by his mother.
But what to do with it?
The answer lies within the 292 pages of “Whiz Kid,” the newest book by Harrisburg’s own Joel Burcat—and co-authored by his late father.
“Whiz Kid” is a story of life in Philadelphia in 1950, the magic year that the Phillies—dubbed the Whiz Kids for their youth—won the team’s first National League pennant since 1915.
The tale of that time is told through the book’s main character, Ben Green.
Returning from Okinawa as an unassuming war hero, Green, upon graduating from Penn, is torn between his dream of writing and publishing his first novel, versus opting for the security of a well-paying advertising job offered by his best friend—whose life Green saved in the war—as Green’s wife is about to give birth to the couple’s first child.
Further complicating matters is Green’s struggle to maintain a friendship with a beautiful woman—Green’s classmate at Penn—despite her making it increasingly clear to Ben that she desires much more.
Like David Burcat, Ben Green served in the war, went to Penn, ran an elevator to earn extra money while in college, and played saxophone in Camden. However, Joel said he did not model Ben Green after his father.
Nevertheless, the novel Green is writing in “Whiz Kid” is word for word the same 16-page work that the elder Burcat penned in real life back in 1950, the one Joel discovered in that stack of papers.
David Burcat titled his unpublished novella “Match Point.” It tells the story of Danny Grebs—“a gritty Jewish kid from South Philly who, against all odds, rises through the elite world of tennis to win Wimbledon,” in Joel’s words.
For Joel, Grebs bore a striking resemblance to his father.
“Match Point” also intrigued Joel in that he saw a side of his father he had never seen before.
“I was really fascinated by it,” Joel said of “Match Point.” “It was very gritty, it was dark. It wasn’t sunny like my father generally was.”
Got Serious
His father’s writing was good, Joel said. It reminded him of the counterculture beat poets of the 1950s—touches of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs, with some J.D. Salinger mixed in.
Joel discovered his father’s novella in 2001. At the time, he was still an environmental attorney in Harrisburg. He retired from practicing law in 2018 after being diagnosed with a rare disease impacting his vision.
Joel began seriously writing fiction in 2008 and has four published novels, all legal thrillers featuring the character of Mike Jacobs, a young environmental lawyer who works for the state government in Pennsylvania.
While “Whiz Kid” is Joel’s latest published work, he’s been at this one longer than the others.
“The whole time, it was in the back of my mind—what can I do with my dad’s novel?” he said. “It took me about a year to write, from 2009 to 2010, and then I just sat it down.”
He re-wrote it a few times, had the work edited, re-wrote it again and “finally got serious about getting it published about two years ago.”
For Joel, one non-negotiable condition was that his father’s novella appear word for word, exactly as he wrote it, in “Whiz Kid.” The book editors honored that condition.
“Match Point” has its own distinct font and typeface, so that, when it appears within the pages of “Whiz Kid,” the reader knows that the words are those of Ben Green’s unfinished novel—the one actually written by David Burcat.
“Whiz Kid” is a departure from the legal thriller genre Joel has become known for.
Instead of a deep dive into toxins and chemicals and their effect on the human body, Joel immersed himself in the state library, poring over life in Philadelphia in 1950, down to what the weather was in the city each day of the year to ensure accuracy.
“I didn’t want my characters lounging around a swimming pool if there was a snowstorm that day,” he said.
He devoured three non-fiction books on the Battle of Okinawa. The research shines through in his detailed account of the battle, which constitutes an entire chapter in “Whiz Kid.”
“I really wanted to know what it was like for the guys on the ground, not just for historians telling us from 20,000 feet what was going on,” he said.
Joel returns to legal thriller form with “Temperature Rising,” also published by Sunbury Press and expected out this fall. He’s also nearly finished writing another eco-thriller, “Come Hell or High Water.”
If “Whiz Kid” does well enough—and the book is enjoying rave reviews from Kirkus and others—Joel Burcat already has a sequel in mind.
Hint: the backstory will be another memorable year in Phillies history.
For more on Joel Burcat’s books, including “Whiz Kid,” visit Sunbury Press at www.sunburypress.com.
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