Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
In this non-fiction book, the entire of the saved parts of Emma Mordecai's diary arThanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
In this non-fiction book, the entire of the saved parts of Emma Mordecai's diary are included preceded by a lengthy introduction begun by Prof Dianne Ashton before her untimely death and completed by Prof Melissa Klapper.
Mordecai was a Jewish resident of Richmond, Virginia whose diary recounts the last years of the US Civil War where she lived with a relative on a farm outside of the city. Mordecai came from a well off family and was a slave owner. She fervently defended the "Southern way of life" and spent much of her time tending to hospitalized Confederate soldiers and following the war's progress, especially as it closed in on Richmond.
The academic authors did a good job of covering what is known about Mordecai's life and the context in which she lived, including her views on race, her devotion to Judaism, and the lives of members of her family. There's also a good overview of her life after the war.
It was painful to read the words of a slave owner who called her slaves "servants" but including many denigrating descriptions of the African Americans working for her. I chose to read an ARC of this book because I was curious about the life of a Jewish woman living in the South during the Civil War, but I found the diary difficult to get through....more
This book is a fundraiser for Artists Against Antisemitism, a new and worthy organization that was launched after the October 7th massacres and in resThis book is a fundraiser for Artists Against Antisemitism, a new and worthy organization that was launched after the October 7th massacres and in response to rising antisemitism in the US, especially in the literary world. For that reason, it is an important effort.
Unfortunately, the short pieces in this book felt repetitious after a while. Most included one of two themes (sometimes both): "I'm Jewish but it wasn't a prominent part of my life until October 7th." "I thought antisemitism was something from my grandmother's generation that I wouldn't have to worry about in the US--until now."
Most of the contributors are authors, journalists or business owners. Almost all are white, heterosexual (married to men) females with Ivy League educations who live in NYC or LA. There are a few exceptions that added some variety to the book--a woman whose family came from Iran; a Syrian Sephardic Jewish woman, and a Jewish man of color--but these are few and far between and mostly toward the end. Given the pedigrees of most of these best selling authors I would have expected better contributions....more
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this advanced review copy.
Sara grows up in a large Haredi family in Brooklyn in which both her mother anThank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this advanced review copy.
Sara grows up in a large Haredi family in Brooklyn in which both her mother and one of her older sisters suffers from severe mental illness. Unable to receive any explanations for what's going on, Sara decides that she needs to pursue a career in psychology.
As a teenager, Sara becomes romantically involved with another Haredi girl but she knows that there is no future for them and she must marry a man. She goes ahead with an arranged marriage as is the practice in her community and has two children, but is desperately unhappy. Meanwhile, she is able to graduate college and pursue a social work degree.
The book details Sara's journey from Haredi Brooklyn through two marriages to men and to her growing realization that her well being and the well being of her children depend on her living an authentic life. The book is well written and highly engaging. While I knew how it would likely end, I was intent on reading every page.
I would count this book among the best memoirs of women leaving Haredi life. The author handles the story with compassion and great insight, including about herself.
In this memoir, the author recounts her year-long affair with a woman 34 years older than her. Felice was 23, a recent college graduate who stayed in In this memoir, the author recounts her year-long affair with a woman 34 years older than her. Felice was 23, a recent college graduate who stayed in her college town with no clear path forward. A long-time crush on her boss, Sara, ended up mutual and the two began an affair in secret from Sara's partner of 12 years and everyone else. The book begins with a short chapter describing Sara's death from cancer about 10 years later.
There's so much to say about this book and the stories we tell ourselves in order to keep doing something we know we shouldn't. The book makes a convincing case that Felice and Sara truly loved one another, a love that continued after their sexual relationship stopped. But it also makes a convincing case that the relationship with Sara was the start of a pattern for Felice getting involved with unavailable people instead of the less fulfilling relationships she had during this time with other partners.
We never really understand quite what made Felice get into this pattern. Her parents are described as perfect, both her relationship with them and their marriage. She mentions one family secret that her Holocaust survivor grandfather kept hidden for years, but even that seems insufficient to shed light on how Felice dealt with relationships. Instead, she decides that coming clean with her secret about Sara years later could wipe the slate clean and enable her to move forward in a more healthy way. I certainly hope so.
Rabbi Lew takes the reader through the cycle from Tisha B'av, the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, through the month of Elul, on to Rosh HashanRabbi Lew takes the reader through the cycle from Tisha B'av, the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, through the month of Elul, on to Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and finally, Sukkot. His chapters on Elul, Rosh Hashanah and the 10 Days of Awe were particularly powerful and helpful....more
In cities across the US during the 1930s, German-American Nazi sympathizers organized, holding meetings extolling the virtues of Hitler and planning eIn cities across the US during the 1930s, German-American Nazi sympathizers organized, holding meetings extolling the virtues of Hitler and planning eventually for the Nazification of the US. Watching the growth of these groups and seeing they faced little opposition, Judge Nathan Perlman decided to enlist groups of Jewish gangsters to fight back. The gangsters were only too happy to do so.
This is the first book that chronicles the efforts of Jewish gangsters to break up American Nazi meetings by using violent tactics that were aimed at dissuading the groups from continuing to meet, to march or hold rallies. The author focuses on one city at a time, providing profiles of each gangster leader and describing their actions.
I've read a bit about this in articles, but this book pulls it all together. The chapter on LA and Hollywood was especially interesting.
My criticism of the book has to do with the writing style and the decision by the author not to cite sources until a long list at the end. The book is written in an informal voice, often using the language of the mobsters themselves. There were times when the author went into too much detail, describing the boxing histories of Newark gangsters, for instance. I will say that his recap at the end of the fate of each of the gangsters and some of the Nazis was interesting....more
In her third memoir, Glennon Doyle recounts how she met her wife, Amy Wambach, and how the decisions she made in the wake of that marked a turning poiIn her third memoir, Glennon Doyle recounts how she met her wife, Amy Wambach, and how the decisions she made in the wake of that marked a turning point in her life and in her overall outlook. The title of the book relates to the metaphor described in the prologue in which a cheetah born in captivity and living in a zoo still looks beyond its fenced-in life knowing that there's something more that it was meant to be. She calls this being wild, thus the title of the book.
I don't read a lot of non-fiction and I found the dozens of short chapters, similar to blog posts, overwhelming and at times disorienting. I'm much happier with a narrative structure, even one that includes flashbacks in time.
Part memoir, part feminist 101 manual, part New Age self-help book, Untamed tries to weave all of this together, not always successfully. The best parts of the book are when Doyle zeros in on her life and makes herself vulnerable, not by recounting her past addictions or indecisions, but showing us her current challenges. Much of this occurs in the final 1/3 of the book.
Although there is a chapter on racism, I found her earlier feminist chapters very much aligned with the brand of feminism espoused by 1970s white, middle class women. By talking about all women generally based on her own background and experiences, Doyle chose to ignore the realities of intersectionality and how feminism looks and is lived by women of color and lower income women. It may be that those groups are not her audience, but by separating race and gender/sex, she missed an important teaching opportunity. Perhaps this is a lesson she still has to learn....more
Deborah Lipstadt, a professor at Emory University and one of the world's leading experts on antisemitism and Holocaust denial, tackles the most recentDeborah Lipstadt, a professor at Emory University and one of the world's leading experts on antisemitism and Holocaust denial, tackles the most recent manifestations of antisemitism in this new book, written as a series of letters between the author and both a college student of hers and a faculty colleague.
The book (which I listened to) traces the history of antisemitism and posits a series of categories or archetypes (e.g., the extremist, the enabler, the dinner party antisemite, etc.). She also spends considerable time (maybe more than is needed) on issues arising on college campuses, especially with regard to Israel and the Palestinians.
A critique of both the political left and the political right, Lipstadt includes a litany of the examples from the pages of the newspaper and the internet, quoting individuals and their many posts on social media.
Nevertheless, she is even-handed, explaining that not all critiques of the Israeli government are antisemitic in nature and warning that Jews need to make sure we balance the "oys" with the many "joys" of being Jewish.
All in all, it's a useful and insightful book, even if here and there I didn't agree with everything in it (though mostly I did). Whether its utility is only good for this moment in time or whether it will stand the test of time, is not yet certain....more
Written by a father-daughter team, the father being one of Israel's most well-known writers (he wrote "A Tale of Love and Darkness"), this book, whichWritten by a father-daughter team, the father being one of Israel's most well-known writers (he wrote "A Tale of Love and Darkness"), this book, which the authors call an "essay" posits a thesis that what binds the Jewish people from antiquity through the present is text, i.e., the spoken and written word. The early chapter of the book makes the case strongly, examining the history of Jewish literacy through religious study for young boys beginning at 3 years old. The next chapter focuses on women, though it meanders and is less compelling. This flaw affects the following chapters on time and names as well. While the thesis is strong, the book as a whole does not really hang together....more
Loading...
