Oh Landsman, Where Art Thou? or No Country For Old Jews

This is very exciting news.

Who buys these books?

I was perhaps unduly stunned to learn that there is actually a book called of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Intelligent Design. It reminded me of another unintentionally amusing volume in the series: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Home Schooling. The marketing of these books is a bit puzzling. Do people interested in [...]

Back to the garden

This past weekend, we took an overnight trip to Asheville, North Carolina. While driving through downtown, distractedly gazing at the various shop-window displays of healing crystals, hemp clothing, and other new-age tchochkes, I nearly rammed into an SUV with a bumper sticker reading “Joy is My Compass”.
The day after my near-collision, I finished reading Foreskin’s [...]

If I can’t read comics, I don’t want to be part of your revolution

A new book recounts the life of Emma Goldman in graphic form:
Now dead for nearly seven decades, Red Emma — anarchist, activist, advocate of women’s rights — is still an inspiration to the young, rebellious and artistically inclined, an unlikely muse for anyone from the indie rock band Pretty Girls Make Graves to the Wachowski [...]

Rand-om association

Like LGM’s “D”, I believe that showing admiration for the works of Ayn Rand is prima facie evidence of severe mental illness. The 50th anniversary explains why references to Rand’s magnum dopus, Atlas Shrugged seem to have grown more frequent recently. It even showed up in a recent episode of Mad Men, in which agency [...]

Food for thought

Yet another academic book about a staple food item and how it changed or explains the World. Beans: A History is undoubtedly a fascinating read, deserving a place on the shelf alongside such other classics of the genre as Salt: A World History, Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World, Spice: The [...]

Additions to my “to read” list

In an example of fortuitous timing, this week’s Forward features three books about Jewish life in the South, just as I’m about to embark on my own Dixie Diaspora.

Evidentiary, my dear Watson

Another interesting book review from the Forward. I’ve been a huge Sherlock Holmes fan since childhood, though my obsession has waxed and waned over the years. It has long been my peculiar and baseless pet theory that Holmes was Jewish and changed his name from Shlomo Hellerstein. (Perhaps Michael Chabon, who has already authored a [...]

My Yiddeshe Mama’s demise

In You Never Call! You Never Write!: A History of the Jewish Mother, Brandeis University Professor Joyce Antler traces the life and demise of this beloved and bemoaned cultural figure. The Forward has an amusing review:
Known in some circles as a figure of generosity and deep warmth, in others as the skilled practitioner of toxic [...]

Debris bookshelf

I just bought a copy of Michael Chabon’s new novel, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union. I’m a big fan of his work, and I’ve been looking forward to reading this one. Personally, I find the idea of a Jewish homeland in Alaska rather appealing. Nextbook.org links to some reviews.