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Orders are fulfilled by Amazon.com Net proceeds are donated to tzedakah Visit our Tzedakah Page Tzedaka.ORG penny harvest Siddur Audio heeb magazine bar mitzvah disco the Hasidic rebel blog about his dislikes in the Hasidic world Matt Messinger Casting American Jewish World Service Dry Bones Urban Kvetch Jewish Council on Urban Affairs Elat Chayim New Shul Scottsdale Shalom Center Tikkun Leil Shabbat Times Fool Association of Jewish Librarians Jewish Values site Avhana.co.il Avodah Beach Hillel Bikkurim - Jewish incubator Cambridge Minyan Workmen's Circle/Arbiter Ring Tehillah Riverdale DC Minyan Darkhei Noam Gawker.com gizmodo Hazon Tzedek Hillel IKAR Isabella Freedman JCRC Boston Jdub Records Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action Jewish Community Action SchmoozeDance 2005 SchmoozeDance 2006 schmoozedance 2007 Jewish Funds for Justice Selah Cohorts Jewish Labor Committee Jewish Organizing Initiative JewLicious JewSchool Jews for Racial and Economic Justice Jewish Social Policy Action Network Jspot- Jewish Justice spot Jews United for Justice Kavana Seattle Moishe/Kavod House Boston Hadar Kol HaKfar Kol Tzedek West Philly Kol Zimrah Mazon Minyan Tehillah Cambridge Mitziut Chicago Nashuva LA network 2020 PANIM Panim Hadashot DC Park Slope Minyan Progressive Jewish Alliance Rabbis for Human Rights - North America Riverway Project Boston Storahtelling Synagogue 3000 Tekiah Tikkun Ha-Ir wonkette delete Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies JEWISH LITERARY REVIEW		SOME WINTER 2008 BOOK READINGS Dec 03, 2007: 10th Annual Asian American Literary Awards. Aaww.org NYC Dec 09, 2007: Dr. Arnold Eisen speaks on Revitalizing American Judaism. 92nd St Y, NYC 92y.org Dec 21, 2007: Jewmongous comedy act with Sean Altman. NYC Dec 23, 2007: HEEB Storytelling presents Jon Kesselman (Hebrew Hammer) and Sam Levine (Fraks and Geeks). Joe's Pub NYC 7PM Dec 23, 2007: Putting The HA in HANUKKAH, sponsored by HEEB MAGAZINE hits NYC Dec 24, 2007: Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad. At The Zipper Factory NYC Dec 24, 2007: Good For The Jews, a comedy music duo perform at The Knitting Factory NYC Dec 25, 2007: Zamir Choral Fdtn open sing with M Lazar. JCC Manhattan NYC 1PM Dec 25, 2007: Klez for Kids. Eldridge St Synagogue. NYC Dec 25, 2007: Challah lujah. Concert with Joshua Nelson and the Kosher Gospel Choir. Museum of Jewish Heritage, NYC 1 and 3:30. NYC Jan 06, 2008: Russian Sundays at the Y. 4PM. Judism, Science and God, with Fedor Bogomolov, Carl Feit, Marc Swelitz, and Sylvain Cappell. 92nd St Y, NYC 92y.org Jan 13-14, 2008: From Past To Present: The State of Research in Polish-Jewish Relations. UCLA Center for Jewish Studies Jan 13, 2008: Dr. Amy-Jill Levine speaks at the Everett Institute. 92nd St Y, NYC 92y.org Jan 13, 2008: BASKETBALL TRYOUTS for the 26th Annual JCC Maccabi Games. To be held in Detroit, August 2008. Tryouts at 92y.org NYC Jan 18, 2008: Schmoozedance Jewish Film Festival in Park City Utah. Jan 17-21, 2008: LIMMUDny.ORG Jewish Learning Weekend at Nevele Grande Report, Ellenville NY. Visit the webpage for lectures and information Jan 24, 2008: Do You Believe? Conversations with Jonathan Safran Foer, Mary Gordon, Daniel Libeskind, Gay Talese and Antonio Monda. Temple Emanu-El, NYC, 7PM. Feb 13, 2008: EITAN FISHBANE speaks on Kabbalah and the Literary Form of the Zohar. UCLA 7:30PM Feb 25, 2008: The Pilgrimage Poems of Judah Halevi. A lecture by Dr. Raymond Scheindlin. JTS NYC Feb 26, 2008: STEVEN COHEN speaks on THE EMERGING IDENTITIES OF YOUNG ADULT AMERICAN JEWS. UCLA 7:30PM Mar 03, 2008: Rabbi Lawrence Kushner speaks at the Everett Institute on the Jewish Mystical Imagination. 92nd St Y, NYC 92y.org Mar 06, 2008: Jewish Views on Stem Cells, Univ HC, and Assisted Suice, with Dr. David Novak. JTS NYC Mar 13, 2008: Jennifer 8. Lee reads at the aaww.org, NYC May 27, 2008: Jews amd Political Power. Lecture by Dr. Ruth R. Wisse. JTS NYC Apr 03, 2008: Joed Coffin reads at the aaww.org, NYC Apr 23-25, 2008: Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, UCLA, Los Angeles May 18, 2008: Rabbi Phillip Lieberman, PhD speaks at the Everett Institute on the Judeo Muslim Connection. 92nd St Y, NYC 92y.org HEY.. NOW YOUR CAN SEARCH OUR SITE, INSTEAD OF JUST SEARCHING AMAZON. TRY IT OUT... Search: search tips sitemap First... a quick shout out to (Rabbi) Danny Siegel, poet, tzedakah leader, and founder of the ZIV Tzedakah Collective in Millburn NJ. We have heard that the fund is closing down, having succeeded in distributing over $12 Million in funds, and teaching thousands about how to do great exceptional charity and justice work. Siegel, 63, will focus on poetry now. Bravo. And so we at MyJewishBooks.com, Jewishfilm.com, JewFlix.Org, and Tzedaka.Org say to Mr. Siegel, MAZEL TOV. DECEMBER 2007 The Moscow Jewish Avant-Garde Theatre by Benjamin Harshav with Barbara Harshav December 2007. Yale The Moscow Yiddish Theater (later called GOSET) was born in 1919 and almost immediately became one of the most remarkable avant-garde theaters in Europe. It flourished in the 1920s but under Bolshevik pressure soon lost much of the originality that had distinguished it. In 1948 Stalin's henchmen slaughtered GOSET's legendary actor and director Solomon Mikhoels, and the theater was liquidated. This book focuses not on how the theater was persecuted but on its ambitious beginnings as a revolutionary organization of passionate artistic exploration. The book brings to English readers for the first time selected writings that reflect the aesthetics and politics of the Yiddish revolutionary theater. The book also incorporates miraculously salvaged images of Marc Chagall's famous theater murals, as well as paintings of costumes and stage sets created by the best artists of the day. These illustrations, discovered only after the fall of the Soviet Union, have never been published before. With emphasis on the theater's early achievements and its centrality in Moscow's burgeoning theater world, the book makes a major contribution to the understanding of modern Jewish culture and the art of theater. Benjamin Harshav is professor of comparative literature, J. & H. Blaustein Professor of Hebrew Language and Literature, and professor of Slavic languages and literatures, Yale University.. Click the book cover to read more. The Torah A Women's Commentary by Tamara Cohn Eskenazi December 2007. URJ Press With More than 10,000 pre-ordered, The Torah: A Women's Commentary is on track to become the most popular Torah Commentary of 2008. This Highly anticipated work is finally here after 14 years of planning, research, and fundraising. At the 39th Women of Reform Judaism Assembly in San Francisco, Cantor Sarah Sager challenged Women of Reform Judaism delegates to "imagine women feeling permitted, for the first time, feeling able, feeling legitimate in their study of Torah." WRJ accepted that challenge. The Torah: A Women's Commentary debuts at the Union for Reform Judaism 69th Biennial Convention in San Diego in December 2007. WRJ has commissioned the work of the world's leading Jewish female Bible scholars, rabbis, historians, philosophers and archaeologists. Their collective efforts will result in the first comprehensive commentary, authored only by women, on the Five Books of Moses, including individual Torah portions as well as the Hebrew and English translation. "The Torah: A Women's Commentary" presents five forms of commentary for each Torah portion. The Central Commentary contains the Hebrew text and a gender-accurate English translation, along with a verse-by-verse explanation of the biblical text, highlighting female characters and issues involving women. A shorter, "Another View" essay focuses on a specific element in the parsha in a way that complements, supplements or sometimes challenges the Central Commentary. The Post-Biblical Interpretations section gathers teachings from rabbinic writings and classical Jewish commentaries, showing how traditional Jewish sources responded to texts pertaining to women. Take one brief example from Naomi Steinberg's Central Commentary in the parsha Vayigash. Steinberg observes that the story of the reconciliation of Joseph and his brothers "presents a study in the human capacity for lasting change" and the importance of forgiveness. How can we explain the transformation we witness in Judah? Steinberg answers this question by speculating on the effect of Judah's earlier encounter with his daughter-in-law Tamar, who deceived Judah in order to become pregnant. Steinberg writes: "While not mentioned in this parashah, Tamar has been a pivotal figure in Judah's own growth. Their encounter in Genesis 38 best accounts for Judah's new capacity to sympathize with his father." In another parsha, the five daughters of Zelophehad in the Book of Numbers approach Moses, the leaders of the people, and the entire community. They draw near because they see a problem that needs a solution: they have not been given an inheritance that they believe is due to them. They refuse to be left out and demand their rightful share. And so they dare speak to Moses, the priest Eleazar, all the other leaders, and the entire edah (congregation or formally constituted assembly). They say: 'Give us a holding among our father's kin. Give us a share of our heritage, why should we be left out?' They get what they want a share, a large share I should add. Moreover, as a result of their courage, a new Torah law is created, one that intends to benefit future generations long after them. Their story is the story of the WRJ's The Torah: A Women's Commentary. The Women of Reform Judaism said: 'Give us a share among our brothers. We are no longer willing to be left out.' Instead of land, WRJ asks for something even more enduring - 'Give us a share of our Torah.' The result is a Torah commentary that we trust will benefit all of us. With this commentary we will continue as sisters to empower the women - and men - who come after us for generations to come." The Torah: A Women's Commentary will finally give dimension to the women's voices in our tradition. Under Editor Dr. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi's skillful leadership, this commentary will provide insight and inspiration for all who study Torah: men and women, Jew and non-Jew. As Dr. Eskenazi has eloquently stated, "we want to bring the women of the Torah from the shadow into the limelight, from their silences into speech, from the margins to which they have often been relegated to the center of the page - for their sake, for our sake and for our children's sake." This is wonderful rendition of our most sacred text, the Women's Commentary will bring a fresh perspective to our people's story. It will be an extraordinary resource that will prove both useful and meaningful to all - men and women alike - who delve into its pages." Click the book cover to read more. See also: DOUBLE TAKE. YIKES YES, I KNOW YOU THOUGHT IT SAID TORAH IS FOR DUMMIES WHEW... WE WERE CONFUSED THE TORAH FOR DUMMIES Edited by Arthur Kurzweil December 2007. Wiley For Dummies Series An easy-to-understand introduction to Judaism's most sacred text. The foundation of Hebrew and Jewish religion, thought, law, and society is the Torah-the parchment scroll containing the text of the Five Books of Moses that is located in every synagogue. This accessible guide explains the Torah in clear language, even to those who were not raised in the Jewish religious tradition. Christians who want to know more about the Jewish roots of Christianity need to understand the Torah, as do followers of Islamic tradition and those interested in the roots of Abrahamic faiths. The Torah For Dummies explains the history of the Torah, its structure and major principles, and how the Torah affects the daily lives of people who follow the Jewish way of life. Click the book cover to read more. An Ordinary Spy A Novel by Joseph Weisberg December 2007. Bloomsbury USA Joseph Weisberg captured 10th grade so well in his previous novel, TENTH GRADE. Now, as a former CIA case officer, he has written about what he knows again. This novel is about two embattled Enron-generation spies who go to extraordinary lengths to keep their informants out of harm's way, published as if it was vetted and redacted by the agency itself. Sure... the black marked omissions get irritating after the first chapter... but the novel is worth this minor inconvenience. Here is the story synopsis. Mark Ruttenberg may not be fit for the CIA. Early in his tenure with the agency, he learns about a former operative, Bobby Goldstein, and becomes curious about the case that led to his termination. Before he can get to the bottom of what happened, however, he's shipped off to [* REDACTED* ], where he hobnobs with foreign diplomats and informants, who have access to [* REDACTED] information and contacts like the powerful General [ REDACTED], in the hopes of recruiting them as agents. But, when he falls for the wrong woman, he's quickly sent back to [ REDACTED], with nothing to show for his secretive work but a mysterious postcard with an unknown address on it. Who sent the postcard, and where is it supposed to lead him? Could this all be an ops test, with Mark's future hanging in the balance? Soon, he'll have to decide if righting an old wrong is worth taking a terrible and very personal risk. Published with redacted material throughout the novel, An Ordinary Spy is a riveting and dramatic portrait of modern espionage, filled with suspense, intrigue, and betrayal. Click the book cover to read more. The Promise by Jean-Marie Lustiger, Cardinal of the Catholic Church December 2007. Eerdmans The late Jewish born French Cardinal shares his thoughts. Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, who was born to Polish Jews, converted to Roman Catholicism at the age of 13, and rose to become leader of the French church and an adviser to Pope John Paul II, died on August 5, 2007, prior to the publication of this book. Cardinal Lustiger (pronounced Li sti ZHAY), whose mother died in a Nazi concentration camp and who always insisted that he had remained a Jew after his conversion, was 80 years old He led France's 45 million Catholics for almost a 25 years and there was talk that he would one day be a modern day Jewish-born Pope. Cardinal Lustiger was involved in efforts to close a divide between Jews and Christians over the presence of a convent at the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, where his mother had perished. His assertions that he had remained a Jew despite his conversion drew outcries from some Jewish leaders. He saw himself like an early Christian, a Jewish Christian, who as a child was made to wear a yellow Star of David during the Nazi occupation of Vichy Paris. His birth name was Aaron Lustiger. fter the German occupation of France in 1940, Aaron was sent with his sister, Arlette, to live with a Catholic woman in Orl�ans, where the children were exposed to Catholicism and where, against the wishes of his parents, he decided to convert. He was baptized in August 1940, adding the name Jean-Marie to Aaron. His sister was baptized later. In September 1942, their mother was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where she died in 1943; the father survived the war, returning to Paris, where he died in 1982. Until 1959, Cardinal Lustiger was student chaplain at the Sorbonne, and for the next 10 years director of the Richelieu Center, which trained chaplains for French universities. In 1969, he was appointed pastor of Ste. Jeanne de Chantal, in the 16th Arrondissement, one of Paris's wealthier neighborhoods. He transformed the parish, perhaps a model of the complacency the pope feared, into one of the archdiocese's most active. Cardinal Lustiger appeared to have undergone a spiritual crisis in the late 1970s, when he considered leaving France for Israel. "I had started to learn Hebrew, by myself, with cassettes," he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in 1981. "Does that seem absurd, making your aliyah?" he said, referring to a Jew's return to Israel. "I thought then that I had finished what I had to do here, that I was at a crossroads." Then, in a surprise appointment, he was made bishop of Orl�ans, the city where he had been baptized. The pope appointed him archbishop of Paris in January 1981, In an early interview as archbishop, he said: "I was born Jewish, and so I remain, even if that is unacceptable for many. For me, the vocation of Israel is bringing light to the goyim. That is my hope, and I believe that Christianity is the means for achieving it." Reactions to his appointment were sharp. A former chief rabbi of Paris, Meyer Jays, told an interviewer that "a Jew becoming a Christian does not take up authentic Judaism, but turns his back to it." In 1983, he was made a cardinal. Countering those who said that European youth were not receptive to religion, Cardinal Lustiger in 1997 organized a World Youth Day, which was held in Paris and attended by more than a million people, including John Paul.In 1984, Roman Catholic prelates, including Cardinal Lustiger, and representatives of Jewish organizations worked out an agreement to move the convent in Auschwitz, but the plan was thrown into doubt in 1989 when Cardinal Jozef Glemp of Poland ruled out a move. Cardinal Lustiger pressed John Paul to intervene, and in 1993 the pope ordered the Carmelites to move, resolving the crisis. In 1995, while he was visiting Israel, Yisrael Meir Lau, the Ashkenazic chief rabbi and a concentration camp survivor, said Cardinal Lustiger had "betrayed his people and his faith during the most difficult and darkest of periods" in the 1940s. The rabbi dismissed the assertion that the cardinal had remained a Jew. In response, the cardinal said: "To say that I am no longer a Jew is like denying my father and mother, my grandfathers and grandmothers. I am as Jewish as all the other members of my family who were butchered in Auschwitz or in the other camps." Asked by a Jewish friend over dinner whether he thought he might become pope, the cardinal responded in French-accented Yiddish, "From your mouth to God's ear." This is his memoir. Click the book cover to read more. You Don't Have to Be Wrong for Me to Be Right Finding Faith Without Fanaticism by Brad Hirschfield December 2007. Random House Joseph Telushkin says of this book: "'Through you all the families of the earth will be blessed,' God says to Abraham in the Bible. Yet, for so much of history, the different religions have often turned the hardest of hearts to those who don't accept all their teachings. Brad Hirschfield brings a unique understanding-forged in years of theological study and personal interreligious dialogues-of where so many great faiths have gone wrong, and what can be done to guarantee that the blessing God bestowed on Abraham can, after almost four thousand years, finally be achieved." "We live in a world," says Brad Hirschfield, "where religion is killing more people than at any time since the Crusades." And when it comes to fanaticism, Hirschfield is not speaking abstractly; he once embraced it. As a young man in the early 1980s, he left his family's upscale North Shore Chicago neighborhood for the West Bank city of Hebron, where he joined a group of settlers who were committed to reconstituting the Jewish state within its biblical borders. He carried a gun and, on one occasion, used it. He still doesn't know if his bullets found their mark. Now, Hirschfield has renounced all such rigid delineations of people into categories of totally right and totally wrong, entirely good and entirely evil. He seeks to build bridges among people of different faiths-and those with no faith at all. He is devoted to teaching inclusiveness, celebrating diversity, and delivering a message of acceptance-not as feel-good pabulum but as forceful and indispensable antidotes to the blind passions and willful ignorance that threaten us all. Grounded in biblical scholarship and interwoven with personal stories, You Don't Have to Be Wrong for Me to Be Right provides a pragmatic path to peace, understanding, and hope that appeals to the common wisdom of all religions. Pointing the way through the continuum of conflict, Hirschfield addresses: the ways faith has many faces; how justice can coexist with forgiveness and mercy; how unity does not necessitate uniformity; the ways we can learn to disagree without disconnecting. Though conflict is an inevitable part of life-a function of being connected to one another-Hirschfield is a voice of peace and reconciliation, showing us that conflict is also an opportunity to learn and grow and often to grow closer. Click the book cover to read more. FOR ALL THOSE WHO WANT TO MAKE A JEWISH DOCUMENTARY FILM... Making Documentary Films and Videos A Practical Guide to Planning, Filming, and Editing Documentaries by Barry Hampe December 2007. Holt The second edition of Making Documentary Films and Videos fully updates the popular guidebook that has given readers around the world the knowledge and confidence to produce their first documentary film. It traces two main approaches-recording behavior and re-creating past events-and shows you how to be successful at each. Covering all the steps from concept to completion, with chapters on visual evidence; documentary ethics; writing for documentaries; budgeting; assembling a crew; film and sound recording; casting and directing actors and nonactors; and editing for the audience, this book can help you successfully bring to life the documentary you want to make. The second edition includes a discussion of truth, "reality," and honesty in the current filmmaking environment; new advice on how to get started in documentary filmmaking; an expanded section on researching and writing the proposal, treatment, and script; and an exhaustive list of resources. Click the book cover to read more. A GREAT HANUKAH GIFT... The Reverend Guppy's Aquarium From Joseph Frisbie to Roy Jacuzzi, How Everyday Items Were Named for Extraordinary People by Philip Dodd December 2007. Gotham I truly enjoy these types of books. Here are the BEST stories on how certain items got their names. Some are so interesting, and entertaining. Twenty people who have been immortalised as objects - heroes of the English language like Adolphe Sax(ophone), Joseph P. Frisbie, L�szl� Bir� (ballpoint pen), Merc�d�s Jellinek and Etienne de Silhouette, as well as the aerial swinger Jules Leotard, Roy Jacuzzi, Reverend Guppy, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, Anton Mesmer (he was mesmerizing and a quack, I guess he was more like a Momser), Oscar and Tony(Antoinette) for whom statues are named, Bougainville, Dahl(ia), Freese, Fuchs(hia), Magnol(ia), and the Jewish OB-GYN Dr. Ernst Grafenberg (Grafenberg-Spot, or G-Spot), Alois Alzheimer, Georges Gilles de la Tourette, Hans Asperger; Harry Fox(trot); and more are discussed in this book. Click the book cover to read more. THE GEOGRAPHY OF BLISS One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner December 2007. Twelve Part foreign affairs discourse, part humor, and part twisted self-help guide, The Geography of Bliss takes the reader from America to Iceland to India in search of happiness, or, in the crabby author's case, moments of "un-unhappiness." The book uses a beguiling mixture of travel, psychology, science and humor to investigate not what happiness is, but where it is. Are people in Switzerland happier because it is the most democratic country in the world? Do citizens of Singapore benefit psychologically by having their options limited by the government? Is the King of Bhutan a visionary for his initiative to calculate Gross National Happiness? Why is Asheville, North Carolina so damn happy? With engaging wit and surprising insights, Eric Weiner (pronounced whiner) answers those questions and many others, offering travelers of all moods some interesting new ideas for sunnier destinations and dispositions. Click the book cover to read more. Beaufort by Ron Leshem with Evan Fallenberg (Translator)* December 2007. Delacorte The Israeli novel which is now a controversial award winning Israeli film. By turns subversive and darkly comic, brutal and tender, Ron Leshem's debut novel is an international literary sensation, winner of Israel's top award for literature and the basis for a prizewinning film. Charged with brilliance and daring, hypnotic in its intensity, Beaufort is at once a searing coming-of-age story and a novel for our times-one of the most powerful, visceral portraits of the horror, camaraderie, and absurdity of war in modern fiction. Beaufort. To the handful of Israeli soldiers occupying the ancient crusader fortress, it is a little slice of hell-a forbidding, fear-soaked enclave perched atop two acres of land in southern Lebanon, surrounded by an enemy they cannot see. And to the thirteen young men in his command, Twenty-one-year-old Lieutenant Liraz "Erez" Liberti is a taskmaster, confessor, and the only hope in the face of attacks that come out of nowhere and missions seemingly designed to get them all killed. All around them, tension crackles in the air. Long stretches of boredom and black humor are punctuated by flashes of terror. And the threat of death is constant. But in their stony haven, Erez and his soldiers have created their own little world, their own rules, their own language. And here Erez listens to his men build castles out of words, telling stories, telling lies, talking incessantly of women, sex, and dead comrades. Until, in the final days of the occupation, Erez and his squad of fed-up, pissed-off, frightened young soldiers are given one last order: a mission that will shatter all remaining illusions-and stand as a testament to the universal, gut-wrenching futility of war. Click the book cover to read more. Light Fell A novel by Evan Fallenberg December 27, 2007. SOHO Twenty years have passed since Joseph left behind his entire life-his wife Rebecca, his five sons, his father, and the religious Israeli farming community where he grew up (sde Hirsch)-when he fell in love with a man, the genius rabbi Yoel Rosenzweig. If only their love was like the symbiotic harmony of yowl and Torah, or a bee and an orchid's pollen. Their affair is long over, but its echoes continue to reverberate through the lives of Joseph, Rebecca, and their sons in ways that none of them could have predicted. Now, for his 50th birthday, Joseph is preparing to have his five sons and the daughter-in-law he has never met spend Shabbat with him in the Tel Aviv penthouse that he shares with a man (who is conveniently out of town that weekend.) This will be the first time Joseph and all his sons will be together in nearly two decades. Some of his sons have become fervently religious, another is completely secular, and their feelings toward their father range from acceptance to bitter resentment. As they prepare for this reunion, Joseph, his sons, and even Rebecca, must confront what was, what is, and what could have been. The author, Evan Fallenberg, the father of two, hails from Cleveland. A grad of the Walsh School at Georgetown, he has lived in Israel for over 20 years. He has translated the works of Batya Gur and Meir Shalev. Click the book cover to read more. Japan Ai A Tall Girl's Adventures In Japan by Aimee Major Steinberger December 2007. Go! Join Aimee Major Steinberger on the ultimate fangirl vacation in Japan! This rapid-fire adventure is full of everything fans dream of seeing: cosplay on the infamous Harajuku Street, fantasy restaurants, maid cafes, Tokyo's largest doll store, beautiful shrines, bookstores full of manga, outrageous all-female Takarazuka musicals, cherry festivals, hot springs, special ceremonies, and so much more. Click the book cover to read more. The Wagner Clan The Saga of Germany's Most Illustrious and Infamous Family by Jonathan Carr December 2007. Atlantic Monthly A family saga as riveting as any opera, and a matchless mirror of Germany's rise, fall, and resurrection. Richard Wagner was many things-composer, philosopher, philanderer, failed revolutionary, and virulent anti-Semite-and his descendants have carried on his complex legacy. Now, in The Wagner Clan, biographer Jonathan Carr retraces the path of the renowned composer and his descendants. Along the way, Carr offers glimpses of Franz Liszt (whose illegitimate daughter Cosima married Wagner) (Cosima was an even bigger Jew hater); Friedrich Nietzsche; Arthur Schopenhauer; Alberto Toscanini; Joseph Goebbels; Hermann G�ring; and the "Wolf" himself, Adolf Hitler, a passionate fan of the Master's music and an adopted uncle to Wagner's grandchildren. Wagner's British-born daughter-in-law, Winifred, was a close friend of Hitler's and seemed momentarily positioned to marry him after the death of her husband. All through the war the Bayreuth Festival, begun by the Master himself, was supported by Hitler, who had to fill out the meager audience with fighting men and SS officers. After the war, the festival was dark for a decade until Wagner's offspring-with characteristic ambition and cunning-revived it. Click the book cover to read more. The Latest Answers to the Oldest Questions A Philosophical Adventure with the World's Greatest Thinkers by Nicholas Fearn December 2007. From Publishers Weekly: From Plato to Colin McGinn, thinkers have addressed the same set of core questions, making philosophy an enduring human science through imagination and debate. This book-concisely organized into three parts titled "Who Am I?" "What Do I Know?" and "What Should I Do?"-reviews not just the latest work on these age-old questions, but also the journey between ancient and modern philosophy. But where the title promises adventure, the broad overview obscures the quirky characters and theories that give life to today's great ideas. Further, Fearn seems unable to decide what kind of narrator he wants to be: he'll appear suddenly out of synthetic prose to interview-or to fail to interview-one of his more than 30 subjects. One of his stranger encounters is with Jacques Derrida: "Although he is renowned for his charm, I am unable to give a personal account of Derrida since he declined to be interviewed, and woke me up with a phone call at 7:30 a.m. to tell me so." In this way, the book certainly has its moments, especially in the later chapters, but too often loses momentum. COOKING JEWISH 532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family by Judy Bart Kancigor November 2007. Workman Publishing Got kugel? Got Kugel with Toffee Walnuts? Now you do. Here's the real homemade Gefilte Fish - and also Salmon en Papillote. Grandma Sera Fritkin's Russian Brisket and Hazelnut-Crusted Rack of Lamb. Aunt Irene's traditional matzoh balls and Judy's contemporary version with shiitake mushrooms. Cooking Jewish gathers recipes from five generations of a food-obsessed family into a celebratory saga of cousins and kasha, Passover feasts - the holiday has its own chapter - and crossover dishes. And for all cooks who love to get together for coffee and a little something, dozens and dozens of desserts: pies, cakes, cookies, bars, and a multitude of cheesecakes; Rugelach and Hamantaschen, Mandelbrot and Sufganyot (Hanukkah jelly doughnuts). Not to mention Tanta Esther Gittel's Husband's Second Wife Lena's Nut Cake. Blending the recipes with over 160 stories from the Rabinowitz family-by the end of the book you'll have gotten to know the whole wacky clan-and illustrated throughout with more than 500 photographs reaching back to the 19th century, Cooking Jewish invites the reader not just into the kitchen, but into a vibrant world of family and friends. Written and recipe-tested by Judy Bart Kancigor, a food journalist with the Orange County Register, who self-published her first family cookbook as a gift and then went on to sell 11,000 copies, here are 532 recipes from her extended family of outstanding cooks, including the best chicken soup ever - really! - from her mother, Lillian. (Or as the author says, "When you write your cookbook, you can say your mother's is the best.") Every recipe, a joy in the belly. Click the book cover to read more. JANUARY 2008 The Jewish Messiah A Novel by Arnon Grunberg with a translation by Sam Garrett January 2008. Penguin Arnon Yasha Yves (Arnon) Gr�nberg (born 1971) is a Dutch Jewish writer. Some of his books were written using the heteronym Marek van der Jagt. Gr�nberg made his literary debut in 1994 with the novel Blauwe maandagen (Blue Mondays), which won the Dutch prize for the best debut novel that year. In 2000, under the heteronym Marek van der Jagt, he won the best debut prize again for his novel De geschiedenis van mijn kaalheid (The Story of My Baldness). The Jewish Messiah is not about Judaism, nor about the Messiah nor about any of the political or historical entities that may be hidden, or referred to, in the book. It is about a young individual, Basel-resident Xavier Radek, grandson of a late SS-member. He needs a mission and, wanting to know more about Jewish suffering, decides to "console the Jews." He converts, and falls in love with a Jew man, Awromele. Xavier's almost fatal circumcision, performed by a half-blind dealer of kosher cheese, is described in some of Gr�nberg's most hilarious scenes. This book, together with the Van der Jagt works, confirms Gr�nbergs unique position within Dutch literature. An illustration of the sense of humour employed in the book is the name "King David" given to the testicle Radek lost (during his circumcision), which is worshipped when Radek is PM of Israel. It is a farce and a love story. Click the book cover to read more. People of the Book A Novel by Geraldine Brooks January 2008. Viking In 1996, Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book expert, is offered the job of a lifetime: analysis and conservation of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, which has been rescued from Serb shelling during the Bosnian war. Priceless and beautiful, the book is one of the earliest Jewish volumes ever to be illuminated with images. When Hanna, a caustic loner with a passion for her work, discovers a series of tiny artifacts in its ancient binding-an insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair-she begins to unlock the book's mysteries. The reader is ushered into an exquisitely detailed and atmospheric past, tracing the book's journey from its salvation back to its creation. In Bosnia during World War II, a Muslim risks his life to protect it from the Nazis. In the hedonistic salons of fin-de-si�cle Vienna, the book becomes a pawn in the struggle against the city's rising anti-Semitism. In inquisition-era Venice, a Catholic priest saves it from burning. In Barcelona in 1492, the scribe who wrote the text sees his family destroyed by the agonies of enforced exile. And in Seville in 1480, the reason for the Haggadah's extraordinary illuminations is finally disclosed. Hanna's investigation unexpectedly plunges her into the intrigues of fine art forgers and ultra-nationalist fanatics. Her experiences will test her belief in herself and the man she has come to love. Inspired by a true story, People of the Book is at once a novel of sweeping historical grandeur and intimate emotional intensity, an ambitious, electrifying work by an acclaimed and beloved author. Click the book cover to read more. LIGHT FELL A novel By Evan Fallenberg January 2008. Soho Evan, a resident of Israel by way of Cleveland, is a graduate of the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown. But I have not held this against him, just because that school rejected me. And on to the book... Twenty years have passed since Joseph left behind his entire life-his wife Rebecca, his five sons, his father, and the religious Israeli farming community where he grew up-when he fell in love with a man, the genius rabbi Yoel Rosenzweig. Their affair is long over, but its echoes continue to reverberate through the lives of Joseph, Rebecca, and their sons in ways that none of them could have predicted. Now, for his fiftieth birthday, Joseph is preparing to have his five sons and the daughter-in-law he has never met spend the Sabbath with him in the Tel Aviv penthouse that he shares with a man-who is conveniently out of town that weekend. This will be the first time Joseph and all his sons will be together in nearly two decades. The boys' lives have taken widely varying paths. While some have become extremely religious, another is completely cosmopolitan and secular, and their feelings toward their father range from acceptance to bitter resentment. As they prepare for this reunion, Joseph, his sons, and even Rebecca, must confront what was, what is, and what could have been. Click the book cover to read more. The Forger by Cioma Schonhaus, translated by Alan Bance January 2008. Del Capo From Publishers Weekly: This memoir of a Jewish man's experience in wartime Berlin is less a tale of suffering than of courage. By 1942, Sch�nhaus's family had been deported; the 20-year-old was spared because he worked in an arms factory. In that year, he began using his graphics background to forge IDs for Jews in hiding, and eventually went underground himself. His efforts, aided by anti-Nazi Germans, saved the lives of hundreds of Jews. He maintains a determined tone about the war-At last, I didn't have to just look on helplessly at what they were doing to us, he writes about being asked to forge documents-but Sch�nhaus's account has all the elements of a thriller. (In fact, Sch�nhaus's story is being made into a film.) Despite the doom around him, he lives boldly, enjoying sailing escapades and sexual encounters with women, seemingly defying the Nazi authorities to find him until he flees over the border into Switzerland. While adding to our knowledge about wartime Berlin, this work also tells us something about how the human spirit can thrive amid destruction and tragedy. Click the book cover to read more. The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism From Sacred Texts to Solemn History by Andrew G. Bostom January 2008. Prometheus This comprehensive, meticulously documented collection of scholarly articles presents indisputable evidence that a readily discernible, uniquely Islamic antisemitism--a specific Muslim hatred of Jews--has been expressed continuously since the advent of Islam. Debunking the conventional wisdom, which continues to assert that Muslim animosity toward Jews is entirely a 20th-century phenomenon fueled mainly by the protracted Arab-Israeli conflict, leading scholars provide example after example of antisemitic motifs in Muslim documents reaching back to the beginnings of Islam. The contributors show that the Koran itself is a significant source of hostility toward Jews, as well as other foundational Muslim texts including the hadith (the words and deeds of Muhammad as recorded by pious Muslim transmitters) and the sira (the earliest Muslim biographies of Muhammad). Many other examples are adduced in the writings of influential Muslim jurists, theologians, and scholars, from the Middle Ages through the contemporary era. These primary sources, and seminal secondary analyses translated here for the first time into English--such as Hartwig Hirschfeld's mid-1880s essays on Muhammad's subjugation of the Jews of Medina and George Vajda's elegant, comprehensive 1937 study of the hadith--detail the sacralized rationale for Islam's anti-Jewish bigotry. Numerous complementary historical accounts illustrate the resulting plight of Jewish communities in the Muslim world across space and time, culminating in the genocidal threat posed to the Jews of Israel today. Scholars, educators, and interested lay readers will find this collection an invaluable resource for understanding the phenomenon of Muslim antisemitism, past and present. "Stimulating and informative: a fascinating and disturbing voyage of historical discovery...It is magnificent." (-Martin Gilbert) Click the book cover to read more. Glamour, Interrupted How I Became the Best-Dressed Patient in Hollywood by Steven Cojocaru January 2008. Collins Before Steven Cojocaru was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease, he could never have imagined himself living anything other than a high-glam Hollywood lifestyle. A bon vivant on two coasts, he held jobs as both the red carpet guru for Entertainment Tonight and the fashion correspondent for the Today show, hauling his suitcase full of flat irons and designer boots from New York to Los Angeles and back again, every week. He was Cojo, professional glamour boy with a barbed tongue who went shopping with J.Lo and traded fashion tips with Gwyneth. But a painful and ironically unglamorous reality would begin to form itself around his life, and Cojo found himself with a new Rolodex of A-List friends: The kidney team at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. In a memoir that moves beyond the celebrity, Glamour, Interrupted is an inspiring and darkly humorous story about how, in the midst of a world obsessed with youth and beauty, Cojo survived what turned out to be the fight of his life. From drug-induced meltdowns to waking up in the hospital on life support, Cojo recounts his desperate hunt for a new kidney-after a failed transplant and months of dialysis-that ended with a twist of fate and forged an even stronger bond with his mother. With a bit of eye cream, a little concealer, and just a touch of bronzer, he found a strength he didn't know he had, and used his unfaltering sense of humor to help him survive. Oh... why is this book on MyJewishBooks.com? Because of Cedars-Sinai?? No. Because Steven grew up in a Jewish family of Romanian and Israeli heritage. "Cojo", as Matt Lauer dubbed him, as effete as Liberace, Paul Lynde, and Richard Simmons, grew up in Montreal as an ostracized suburban kid who spent hours upon hours with fashion and celebrity magazines as a teenager. Click the book cover to read more. The Broken American Male And How to Fix Him by Shmuley Boteach, Rabbi January 2008, St Martins Boteach churns out another one From the book flap: Why do American husbands come home from work too exhausted to interact with their families? When did a healthy quest for prosperity become a twisted game no one can win? How did BlackBerries and internet porn become more interesting to men than their flesh-and-blood spouses? .....[Boteach] discovered a disturbing common thread in the families he meets: men responding to the pressure of competition in their work lives by turning away from their loved ones.In a world that judges men by the size of their paychecks and the wattage of their fame, it's all too easy to lose sight of what is truly valuable in life.Men who consider themselves failures and don't love themselves turn into stressed-out dads, distracted husbands and miserable human beings. For these men, alcohol, the internet and sporting events serve as numbing stand-ins for reality. In THE BROKEN AMERICAN MALE, Boteach doesn't just outline the problems facing marriages and nuclear families.He also offers practical, inspiring solutions, showing how wives can reach out to their husbands, helping them become heroes again to their own families. Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book If I Am Not For Myself Journey of an Anti-Zionist Jew by Mike Marqusee January 2008, Verso If I Am Not For Myself is a passionate, thought-provoking exploration of what it means to be Jewish in the twenty-first century. It traces the author's upbringing in 1960s Jewish-American surburbia, his anti-war and pro-Palestinian activism on the British left, and life as a Jew among Muslims in Pakistan, Morocco, and Britain. Interwoven with this are the experiences of his grandfather's life in Jewish New York of the 1930s and 40s, his struggles with anti-Semitism and the twists and turns that led him from anti-fascism to militant Zionism. In the course of this deeply personal story, Marqusee refutes the claims of Israel and Zionism on Jewish loyalty and laments their impact on the Jewish diaspora. Rather, he argues for a richer, more multi-dimensional understanding of Jewish history and identity, and reclaims vital political and personal space for those castigated as "self-haters" by the Jewish establishment. Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book My People's Passover Haggadah Traditional Texts, Modern Commentaries Volume 1 Edited by Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman and David Arnow, PhD January 2008, Jewish Lights Publishing In two volumes, this empowering resource for the spiritual revival of our times enables us to find deeper meaning in one of Judaism's most beloved traditions, the Passover Seder. Rich Haggadah commentary adds layer upon layer of new insight to the age-old celebration of the journey from slavery to freedom--and makes its power accessible to all. This diverse and exciting Passover resource features the traditional Haggadah Hebrew text with a new translation designed to let you know exactly what the Haggadah says. Introductory essays help you understand the historical roots of Passover, the development of the Haggadah, and how to make sense out of texts and customs that evolved from ancient times. Framed with beautifully designed Talmud-style pages, My People's Passover Haggadah features commentaries by scholars from all denominations of Judaism. You are treated to insights by experts in such fields as the Haggadah's history; its biblical roots; its confrontation with modernity; and its relationship to rabbinic midrash and Jewish law, feminism, Chasidism, theology, and kabbalah. No other resource provides such a wide-ranging exploration of the Haggadah, a reservoir of inspiration and information for creating meaningful Seders every year. Commentators include: David Arnow-The World of Midrash; Carole B. Balin-Modern Haggadot; Marc Brettler-Our Biblical Heritage; Neil Gillman-Theologically Speaking; Alyssa Gray-Medieval Commentators; Arthur Green-Personal Spirituality; Joel M. Hoffman-Translating the Haggadah; Lawrence A. Hoffman-History of the Haggadah; Lawrence Kushner and Nehemia Polen-Chasidic Voices; Daniel Landes-The Halakhah of the Seder; and Wendy I. Zierler-Feminist Voices. Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book My People's Passover Haggadah Traditional Texts, Modern Commentaries Volume 2 Edited by Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman and David Arnow, PhD January 2008, Jewish Lights Publishing In two volumes, this empowering resource for the spiritual revival of our times enables us to find deeper meaning in one of Judaism's most beloved traditions, the Passover Seder. Rich Haggadah commentary adds layer upon layer of new insight to the age-old celebration of the journey from slavery to freedom--and makes its power accessible to all. This diverse and exciting Passover resource features the traditional Haggadah Hebrew text with a new translation designed to let you know exactly what the Haggadah says. Introductory essays help you understand the historical roots of Passover, the development of the Haggadah, and how to make sense out of texts and customs that evolved from ancient times. Framed with beautifully designed Talmud-style pages, My People's Passover Haggadah features commentaries by scholars from all denominations of Judaism. You are treated to insights by experts in such fields as the Haggadah's history; its biblical roots; its confrontation with modernity; and its relationship to rabbinic midrash and Jewish law, feminism, Chasidism, theology, and kabbalah. No other resource provides such a wide-ranging exploration of the Haggadah, a reservoir of inspiration and information for creating meaningful Seders every year. Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book A Mystical Haggadah Passover Meditations, Teachings, and Tales by Eliahu Klein March 2008, North Atlantic In a generation that has seen an explosion in popularity of books about mystical and meditative traditions, very little has been published about the rich and fascinating mystical traditions of the Jewish holy days. Passover, the first religious holiday of the Jewish people, particularly rewards a re-viewing from a mystical perspective. A Mystical Haggadah takes readers through the Passover ritual with Kabbalistic meditations and affirmations in a friendly, accessible format. This Haggadah also includes many Hassidic teachings and stories that have never been presented to the English reading audience. The book is especially valuable for its transliterations of all the major prayers and rituals, and is refreshing in its creative and spiritually-based adaptation and translation of the primary Haggadah text. A Mystical Haggadah is for all spiritual seekers who wish to explore this root tradition of Judaism as a ritual of cosmic importance. The book is also for Jewish seekers of all denominations who wish to explore the mystical, meditative, and empowering aspects of Jewish traditions as seen through the rich and meaningful Passover eve Seder ritual. Rabbi Eliahu Klein has taught Kabbalah, Jewish Meditation, and Hassidism for over 30 years throughout the U.S., Great Britain, and Israel. The Jewish Chaplain for San Francisco County Jails and other prisons of the State of California Department of Rehabilitation, he lives in Berkeley. Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book Passover by Design The Best of the Kosher by Design Series for the Holiday by Susie Fishbein February 2008, Mesorah In this fifth cookbook in the celebrated Kosher by Design series, Susie Fishbein makes Passover preparations elegantly simple. Featuring a blend of Passover-adjusted Kosher by Design favorites, with over thirty brand-new recipes and full-color photos, this is one cookbook you'll love to use throughout the holiday. Passover by Design features: Over 30 brand-new recipes, many developed with kosher catering star, Moshe David; Over 130 Kosher by Design favorites reformulated and retested for Passover; Over 140 full-color images throughout, with over 40 brand-new photos; Quick and easy table decor and entertaining ideas; Useful, year-round healthy cooking techniques; Comprehensive index for easy cross-referencing; Also includes over 130 gluten-free recipes which makes this the perfect year-round cookbook for those on a gluten-free diet. Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book As this book is published, the author is approaching her first Passover since the death of her beloved mother in law, Myrna Fishbein, and so, the book is dedicated to her. Recipes are tagged if they are non-gebrokts. Not only are the Passover recipes splendid, but the presentation ideas are extremely helpful and creative. For example, each seder participant can pick a chore out of a bowl (serve the soup, clean the first course, pour the wine). Or consider serving the karpas and salt water in a Bento Box. Or check the wine labels at the seder. Tell a Jewish story about each of the countries that the wines are from (Israel, USA, Chile, New Zealand, etc.) Recipes include APPETIZERS (14) - highlights are Salmon Tataki, Tri-color gefilte fish (3 layers, requires salon for one layer, dill and cucumbers for another, and a springform pan), Steamed Sea Bass and Savoy Cabbage. Idea: serve the horseradish in a scooped out zucchini slice. SOUPS (over 18) include creamy peach, carrot coconut vichyssoise, chicken, broccoli and almond bisque, and a thick wild mushroom veloute. In terms of matzo balls, there are tomato, tumeric, and spinach versions. There are over 20 SALADS. Including seared Ahi Tuna Nicoise, Cucumber dill, Grilled Beef and Radish, Fatoush, and Mango Tuna with Goat Cheese. The coolest is a Watermelon and Beet salad served in a martini glass with mint and basil sprigs. There are 27 POULTRY recipes. Includes Chicken Lollipops, Greek Garlic Chicken, Fiesta Turkey Burgers, Pastrami Stuffed Turkey Roast with a Pineapple Glaze, and Ratatouille Chicken Stew. The nineteen MEAT recipes include Lamb Chop with Parsley Pesto, Brisket with Shallots and Potatoes, Braised Rib Roast with Melted Tomatoes, Veal Scaloppini with Kumquats, and a Fig Marsala Sauce. Of the over 20 FISH/DAIRY recipes, my faves were Tower of Snapper and Eggplant, Halibut with Zucchini Confit, Tuna Croquettes, Parmesan Crusted Grouper (yes Parmesan can be kosher), Matzo Brei, and Blintz Souffle. The 24 SIDE DISHES include Cauliflower Popcorn, Cauliflower Francaise (she loves cauliflower), Matzo Primavera, Meichel (her mother in law's farfal mushroom pilaf), Hasselback Potatoes (never has a potato looked so lovely), a cranberry pineapple kugel, Thai Quinoa, and Quinoa Timbales with Grapefruit Vinaigrette. As for Afikomens, or DESSERTS, there are 28, including Ebony and Ivory (mouse), Chocolate Mousse Pie, Melon Granitas, Best Ever Sponge Cake (the trick is in the egg white beatings), a compote that serves a mere 25 people, and bronies, cookies, and sorbet. Btay Avon A Blessing in Disguise 39 Life Lessons from Today's Greatest Teachers by Andrea Joy Cohen< MD 2008 Luminaries generously share personal stories about their most challenging experience-and provide the healing wisdom that helped them emerge fortified with inner-peace, strengthened faith, and a deeper understanding of life. Features pieces by: Dean Ornish Rachel Naomi Remen Bernie Siegel Joan Borysenko Harriet Lerner Belleruth Naparstek Stephen Levine Martha Beck Dharma Singh Khalsa Daphne Rose Kingma David Whyte Anne Wilson Schaef And Others. Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book STIRRING IT UP HOW TO MAKE MONEY AND SAVE THE WORLD by Gary Hirshberg, Stonyfield Farm January 2008. Hyperion Gary is the president and C.E.YO. of Stonyfield Farm, the largest manufacturer of organic yogurt. He was a trustee for an NGO maker of organic dairy and a training school, which morphed into the yogurt company to raise funds for the school. In this book, he shares his own creative business solutions, and also includes solutions from other cutting edge "green" companies, suc as Newman's Own, Timberland, Whole Foods, Clif Bar and Patagonia. Now you will probably say, "oh sure, those are all marketers of premium priced goods and services, so they have the liberty to be green." Well, he throws in Wal-Mart as well. He asserts that making a business green actually saves companies money in the long run-for instance, by measuring and reducing one's climate footprint, cutting down on trash and packaging, converting waste to energy, and building loyal and sustainable supplier relations, all while boosting consumer loyalty and thus reducing advertising costs. His company of 18 years has been carcon neutral in 1997. Hirshberg illustrates his points with practical information and advice, as well as engaging anecdotes from the early days of his yogurt company: how a power outage left them milking cows by hand, and how a fire in a Dumpster revealed the need for better packaging. He also describes numerous hands-on grassroots marketing strategies, such as using the yogurt lids for messages about the environment and giving out samples to thank subway commuters for using public transit, and explains how these approaches make a much more powerful impact on consumers than traditional advertising. Once his kid's school's nutritionist said that they served pizza and skittles to kids since they would never eat yogurt. That prompted him to start the MENU FOR CHANGE, for better health in school lunches. He thinks the businesses can change the world.. Gary lost two brothers to congenital heart ailments, they both died about four to five years ago, each within a month of their fortieth birthday. That experience changed him forever. He realized that we are all compost sooner or later and do not have long on this planet to do well by our children, so for him, he cannot imagine a more effective place to be than to be showing how profitable it can be to create a more sustainable society. I also think that with the limited amount of time any of us have we really have to invest it in the things that have the most impact. Stirring It Up demonstrates how companies can work to save the planet, while achieving greater profits and satisfaction, as well Can business do both: make a profit for shareholders, and save the planet for stakeholders? This inspiring book is for business owners and managers as well as anyone interested in saving the environment Click the book cover to read more. FEBRUARY 2008 THE GOOD RAT A TRUE STORY BY JIMMY BRESLIN February 2008, Ecco There was a man who when asked if he was in the mob replied that No, for he was Jewish. Had he ever committed a crime? Well yes, if you consider murder, kidnapping, fraud and manslaughter as crimes. He was Kaplan, the mobster who never talked, until the government made him an offer he could not refuse. Jimmy Breslin recognized Burton Kaplan right away as the Mafia witness of the ages. Breslin comes from the same Queens streets as mob bosses John Gotti and Vito Genovese. But even they couldn't match Kaplan in crime-and neither could anybody else. In his inimitable New York voice, Breslin gives us a look through the keyhole at the people and places that define the mafia-characters like Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, Gaspipe Casso (named for his weapon of choice), Thomas "Three-Finger Brown" Lucchese, and Jimmy "The Clam" Eppolito, interwoven with the good rat himself, Burt Kaplan of Bensonhurst, the star witness in the recent trial of two New York City detectives indicted for acting as hit men in eight gangland executions. Breslin takes us to the old-time hangouts like Pep McGuire's, the legendary watering hole where reporters and gangsters (all hailing from the same working-class neighborhoods) rubbed elbows and traded stories; the dog-fight circles and body dumps at Ozone Park; and the back room at Midnight Rose's candy store, where Murder, Inc., hired and fired. Most compelling of all, Breslin captures the moments in which the Mafia was made and broken-Breslin was there the night John Gotti celebrated his acquittal at his Ravenite Social Club on Mulberry, having bribed his way to innocence only to incite the wrath of the FBI, who would later crush Gotti and others with the full force of the RICO laws. Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book SIT, UBU, SIT How I went from Brooklyn to Hollywood with the same woman, the same dog, and a lot less hair by Gary David Goldberg February 2008, Crown Publishing A love story and look at the entertainment industry by the creator of FAMILY TIES; BROOKLYN BRIDGE; and SPIN CITY. Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book NOW IN PAPERBACK CALL ME BY YOUR NAME A NOVEL By ANDRE ACIMAN February 2008, Picador ALJ writes: Seventeen-year-old Elio faces yet another lazy summer at his parents' home on the Italian coast. As in years past, his family will host a young scholar for six weeks, someone to help Elio's father with his research. Oliver, the handsome American visitor, charms everyone he meets with his cavalier manner. Elio's narrative dwells on the minutiae of his meandering thoughts and growing desire for Oliver. What begins as a casual friendship develops into a passionate yet clandestine affair, and the last chapters fast-forward through Elio's life to a reunion with Oliver decades later. Elio recalls the events of that summer and the years that follow in a voice that is by turns impatient and tender. He expresses his feelings with utter candor, sharing with readers his most private hopes, urges, and insecurities. The intimacy Elio experiences with Oliver is unparalleled and awakens in the protagonist an intensity that dances on the brink of obsession. [...] His longing creates a tension that is present from the first sentence to the last. Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book NOW IN PAPERBACK!! How This Night Is Different Stories by Elisa Albert February 2008, Free Press From Publishers Weekly: Titled to reflect the customary question asked at Passover, these 10 stories by debut writer Albert explore traditional Jewish rituals with youthful, irreverent exuberance as her characters transition into marriage and child-rearing. In "Everything But," dutiful daughter Erin finds herself, after her mother's death, disturbed by the lovelessness of her marriage. In "So Long," Rachel has become "born again" as an Orthodox Jew and resolved to have her head shaved before her marriage, as per custom; the narrator, Rachel's maid of honor, struggles to suppress her sarcastic disbelief. "The Mother Is Always Upset" plays on the familial chaos of ritual circumcision (the bris): tearful mother Beth cowers in the bedroom, while exhausted new father Mark takes his cue from the sanguine mohel. And Albert, writing as nice Jewish girl Elisa Albert, becomes a cocksure writer determined to have the last word in the hilariously vulgar postmodern final story, "Etta or Bessie or Dora or Rose"-an unabashed autobiographical fan letter to Philip Roth, "the father of us all." Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book COOL RESULTS FROM THE LISA STUDY (Longitudinal Immigrant Student Adaptation) Learning a New Land Immigrant Students in American Society by Carola Su�rez-Orozco, Marcelo M. Su�rez-Orozco, Irina Todorova February 2008, Harvard 20% of American children are the children of immigrants, and this percentage increases each year. Very few will return to the country they barely remember. Who are they, and what America do they know? Based on an extraordinary interdisciplinary study that followed 400 newly arrived children from the Caribbean, China, Central America, and Mexico for five years, this book provides a compelling account of the lives, dreams, and frustrations of these youngest immigrants. Richly told portraits of high and low achievers are packed with unexpected ironies. When they arrive, most children are full of optimism and a respect for education. But poor neighborhoods and dull--often dangerous--schools can corrode hopes. The vast majority learn English--but it is the English of video games and the neighborhood, not that of standardized tests. For some of these children, those heading off to college, America promises to be a land of dreams. These lucky ones have often benefited from caring mentors, supportive teachers, or savvy parents. For others, the first five years are marked by disappointments, frustrations, and disenchantment. How can we explain their varied academic journeys? The children of immigrants, here to stay, are the future--and how they adapt will determine the nature of America in the twenty-first century. Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book My Mother, Your Mother Embracing "Slow Medicine," the Compassionate Approach to Caring for Your Aging Loved Ones by Dennis Mccullough, M.D. February 2008, Harper Noted geriatrician, Dr. McCullough discusses the advances in medicine that prolong lives, but what about the quality of the life that is preserved? He rails agaionst dealth by Intensive care, and the "care" which is more destructive than the actual illness. IN this book, he lays out a plan for gentle, slow, personal care, depending on the disease and case, and treating the family in addition to the patient. Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book JUST IN TIME FOR ISRAEL'S 60TH BIRTHDAY, a first hand account from deep inside the State Department A Calculated Risk The U.S. Decision to Recognize Israel by Evan M. Wilson, William B. Quandt (Foreword) February 2008, Clerisy In the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust, the Truman White House led the effort to establish the state of Israel. But, was it inevitable that the U.S. would endorse the concept of a Jewish state? Was U.S. policy entirely pro-Jewish? To what extent did the State Department influence Presidents Roosevelt and Truman in regard to Palestine? How aware were the two presidents of the probable consequences of their decisions about the Middle East? A Calculated Risk explores these questions and more. It examines the intricate international diplomacy that helped pave the way for the creation of the Jewish state and evaluates the conflicting pressures brought to bear on the U.S. with respect to the Palestine question, and specifically the recognition of Israel, from 1942-1948. Impartial, well researched, and highly readable, it tells the complete story of the balancing act that changed the geopolitical landscape in the Middle East. Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book Mr. Wilson (1910-1984) served in the State Dept.'s Palestine desk from 1943-1947 MARCH 2008 WEI SHEN MO JIN WEN BU TONG YU QI TA YIE WEN? PURQUOI? WAS? KUANTO? Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights? "The Four Questions" Around the World by Ilana Kurshan with a great introduction by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin March 2008. Schocken Dear Ilana: If your read this, I think it would be great to create a podcast for this book or youtube, in which we do the four question in a dozen of the languages you select. Dear Readers: I LOVE THIS PASSOVER BOOK... Ilana Kurshan provides insights into the Jewish dispersion around the Earth (well she did not include Vulcan or Klingon or other non human languages). Included in this book are the four questions in a variety of languages with a brief note on the Jewish communities in these countries or language regions. Languages that do not use the English alphabet are also transliterated. Languages include Afrikaans, Amharic, Chinese (Mandarin transliteration), Czech, Danish, Dutch, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Ladino, Latin, Marathi, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, and even that obscure language, Yiddish. Rabbi Telushkin, has a hilarious introduction in which he throws in a few Ma Nishtana jokes, and the fact that although most American Jews do not know Hebrew, they all know Ma Nishtana without a need for a translation. Seder attendees... I recommend that you purchase this book and bring it to your seders. First do the questions in Ivrit, and then, if a child at the table knows French, let them do the four questions in French. If grandma knows Ladino, let her do it in Ladino, and then tell a story of Ladino speaking Jews or a memory of seders of the past. Did you invite a friend from Taiwan or mainland China? Let them read a question in Mandarin (or Cantonese if from HK). Is there a doctor in the seder? Have them do a question in Latin. This can become an annual ritual in which a question is done in a language and the child or adult must tell a story of the Jews of that linguistic community. Click the book cover to read more. WAIT MEA CULPA ABOVE I MENTIONED KLINGON, AND THEN I FOUND THAT THERE ACTUALLY IS A BOOK THAT HAS MA NISHTANA IN KLINGON HERE IT IS BELOW 300 Ways to Ask the Four Questions by Murray Spiegel and Rickey Stein 2008 Two nuts in New Jersey pursued a hobby collecting the Four Questions in different languages since as far back as 1971. Then they met each other. The result (14 years later) is 300 Ways to Ask the Four Questions, a delightful trip round the world. Using languages (with unique alphabets, translations and transliterations) we travel to places Jews have lived, and places they ve never been heard of. We hear the questions in living languages spoken by hundreds of millions, and dying languages spoken by as few as half a dozen. We hear them in ancient languages, click languages, and made-up languages (Klingon, Pig Latin, Lawyerese and others). With over a hundred photos, a CD and a DVD, background on each speaker, language, and language groups, and with games and puzzles to use in the seder, and a lighthearted attitude that enjoys the diversity of our world, this book is a bet-you-did-not-know-you-needed-it but must-have resource for every family. Click the book cover to read more. You Never Call! You Never Write A History of the Jewish Mother by Joyce Antler March 2008. Oxford Click the book cover to watch a video of the author being interviewed In You Never Call, You Never Write, Joyce Antler provides an illuminating and often amusing history of one of the best-known figures in popular culture--the Jewish Mother. Antler traces the odyssey of this compelling personality through decades of American culture. She reminds us of a time when Jewish mothers were admired for their tenacity and nurturance, as in the early twentieth-century image of the "Yiddishe Mama," a sentimental figure popularized by entertainers such as George Jessel, Al Jolson, and Sophie Tucker, and especially by Gertrude Berg, whose amazingly successful "Molly Goldberg" ruled American radio and television for over 25 years. Antler explains the transformation of this Jewish Mother into a "brassy-voiced, smothering, and shrewish" scourge (in Irving Howe's words), detailing many variations on this negative theme, from Philip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint and Woody Allen's Oedipus Wrecks to television shows such as "The Nanny" and Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm." But she also uncovers a new counter-narrative, leading feminist scholars and stand-up comediennes to see the Jewish Mother in positive terms. A joy to read, You Never Call, You Never Write will delight anyone who has ever known or been nurtured by a "Jewish Mother," and it will be a special source of insight for modern parents. As Antler suggests, in many ways, "we are all Jewish Mothers" today. "After reading this, you'll call, you'll write, and you'll say thank you!" --Judy Gold, comedian "More than a history of Jewish motherhood, this book offers a fresh perspective on Jewish history, women's history, and the history of popular culture that is both informative and entertaining.... Readers will finish the book with a fuller and more nuanced understanding of the history of the Jewish mother--and mothers in general." --Library Journal "As educational as it is riotous...go buy this book and call your mom." --The Jewish Magazine. Click the book cover to read more. Abraham's Bind & Other Bible Tales of Trickery, Folly, Mercy And Love by Michael J. Caduto Jewish Lights / Skylight Paths With insight, thoughtfulness and wit, these provocative and entertaining re-imaginings of stories from the Bible highlight the ways God can work for and through us, even today: Barren and despairing Sarah becomes pregnant--learning that nothing is impossible; Jacob the trickster is, in turn, tricked into marrying the wrong wife--learning that what goes around comes around; Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers, only to rise to wield power of life and death over them--learning that patience and integrity will win out in the end. Through multifaceted characters, original stories and vivid natural imagery, Caduto brings this ancient world to life. He immerses you in a richly-textured experience of another time and place. Within these pages you will come to see these familiar tales through new eyes. Have you ever embarked on a new journey with trepidation and uncertainty? Questioned the paradox of deep family loyalties and bonds that are sometimes torn by rivalry? Fought to overcome powerful, destructive forces by freeing the love and mercy in your heart? From the intimate story of Abram and Sarai to the epic tale of Joseph, this compelling collection of re-imagined Bible stories reaches across generations of human striving to connect with the oneness of all. By sharing in the passionate struggles of these ancient biblical characters, you will find in them your own living prayer--your own hunger for love and longing to believe in, and remain faithful to, your relationships with others and with God. Click the book cover to read more. The Book of Dahlia A Novel by Elisa Albert March 2008. Free Press When Dahlia Finger-a 29-year-old, pot-smoking, chronically underachieving Jewish-American princess-learns that she has brain cancer, the results are hilarious and heartbreaking in Albert's superb first novel (following the story collection How This Night Is Different). Opening in the Venice, Calif., cottage to which Dahlia has retreated, at her father's expense, after unsuccessfully trying to forge a life in New York, chapter one begins with the omniscient narrator's scathingly Edith Wharton-worthy catalogue of Dahlia's symptoms and ends with her first grand mal seizure. As Dahlia endures blistering radiation, sits numbly through her support group, smokes medical marijuana (with her crisis-reunited divorced parents) and carries a condescending book called It's Up to You: Your Cancer To-Do List, Albert masterfully interweaves Dahlia's battle with flashbacks, most tellingly involving her complexly overbearing Israeli mother, Margalit ("who unceremoniously imploded the family decades earlier"), and contemptuous older brother, against whom Dahlia has never learned to defend herself. Throughout, Albert delivers Dahlia's laissez-faire attitude toward other people (men especially) and lack of ambition with such exactness as to strip them of clich� and make them grimly vivid. Her brilliant style makes the novel's central question-should we mourn a wasted life?-shockingly poignant as Dahlia hurtles toward death. Click the book cover to read more. BABY LOVE Choosing Motherhood After a Lifetime of Ambivalence by Rebecca Walker March 2008. Riverhead Like many women her age, thirty-four-year-old Rebecca Walker was brought up to be skeptical of motherhood. As an adult she longed for a baby but feared losing her independence. In this very smart memoir, Walker explores some of the larger sociological trends of her generation while delivering her own story about the emotional and intellectual transformation that led her to motherhood. Click the book cover to read more. Last Last Chance A Novel by Fiona Maazel March 2008. FS&G A rollicking comic tale about (in no particular order) plague, narcotics recovery, and reincarnation. Lucy is a young drug addict. She works in a kosher chicken processing plants in NYC. A lethal strain of virus vanishes from a lab in Washington, D.C., unleashing an epidemic-and the world thinks Lucy Clark's dead father is to blame. Her father, a CDC leader has committed suicide. The plague may be the least of Lucy's problems. There's her mother, Isifrid, a peddler of high-end hatwear who's also a crackhead and pagan theologist. There's her twelve-year-old half sister, Hannah, obsessed with disease and Christian fundamentalism; and Lucy's lover, Stanley, who's hell-bent on finding a womb for his dead wife's frozen eggs. Lastly, there's her grandmother Agneth, who believes in reincarnation (and who turns out to be right). And then there is Lucy herself, whose wise, warped approach to life makes her an ideal guide to love among the ruins. Romping across the country, from Southern California to the Texas desert to rural Pennsylvania and New York City, Lucy tries to surmount her drug addiction and to keep her family intact-and tells us, uproariously, all about it. Last Last Chance is a novel about survival and recovery, opportunity and despair, and, finally, love and faith in an age of anxiety. It introduces Maazel as a new writer of phenomenal gifts. Click the book cover to read more. THE KOCH PAPERS MY FIGHT AGAINST ANTI-SEMITISM BY EDWARD I. KOCH with Rafael Medoff March 2008. Palgrave USA Ed Koch, pundit, U.S. Congressman (1969-1977), NYC Mayor (1978-1989), NY Gubernatorial candidate, author, restaurant critic and columnist led the U.S. Delegation to the 2004 Berlin Conference on Anti-Semitism. In this book, Koch has compiled decades of his writings and personal letters in which he has battled anti-Semitism. Interviews, speeches, new essays, never-before published personal correspondence, and more highlight his leadership--on campuses, in the media, on the streets of New York City, and in the halls of power in Washington, DC. Koch reveals the person who leaked James Baker's comments on Jews to him; he discusses Holocaust denial, and reveals more information on the Crown Heights riots/pogrom, as well as info on Jackson's initially denied Hymietown remarks, Mel Gibson's slurs, Amiri Baraka's comments, and other celebrity anti-Semitism. Click the book cover to read more. The Book of Names A Novel / Paperback by Jill Gregory and Karen Tintori February 2008, St Martins From Publishers Weekly: Even readers not yet sated with apocalyptic thrillers may be disappointed by Gregory and Tintori's first collaborative novel, which attempts to use the Jewish tradition of the Lamed-Vovniks, the 36 pure souls whose existence protects all of humanity, as the catalyst for a Da Vinci Code-like plot. Georgetown University professor David Shepherd, who routinely rubs elbows with the high and mighty, finds himself haunted by strange images of names. When an old friend's suggestion leads him to a rabbi in Brooklyn, Shepherd learns that the rabbi possesses an ancient biblical gemstone linked to the Lamed-Vovniks, and that a mysterious cabal has been systematically killing those righteous figures to usher in a new satanic age. Thin characterizations, rampant clich�s and unlikely action sequences make for a less than satisfying read. Under the pseudonym Jillian Karr, the authors have written two suspense novels, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, which was made into a CBS-TV movie, and Catch Me if You Can. Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book A Book by a Jewish Bush Waiting for God The Spiritual Reflections of a Reluctant Atheist by Lawrence Bush February 2008, Paperback. Ben Yehuda Press Why are so many baby boomers tuned into a quest for spirituality? How did growing up with the Bomb influence a generation's view of science and spirit? What effects did psychedelic drugs have on American spirituality? What is the difference between open-mindedness and gullibility? Is God a necessary part of a religious life? Is atheism merely a negation of religious belief, or is it something more? Waiting for God challenges us to become the God we seek: Like Prometheus, Bush steals the Heavenly Fire, and treasures a vision of planting it in his own heart and the hearts of his fellow men. Waiting for God offers a probing look at the generational factors - growing up with the Bomb, psychedelic drugs, environmental crisis, and more - that led the Woodstock generation down the path of spirituality. Waiting for God grasps, from an atheist's perspective, the sense of human interconnection that defines contemporary spirituality and poses challenges for skeptics and humanists to provide spiritual leadership in a hungry age. An intelligent and perceptive thinker and critic of popular culture, Lawrence Bush examines the widespread spiritual 'awakening' of the baby-boomers and subsequent generations through a very personal (and very Jewish) lens. How did the bomb, psychedelic drugs, the modern environmental crisis, and other factors influence a generation's thinking about metaphysics and consciousness? What does 'spirituality' really mean? Bush also turns a skeptical eye towards the atheism and humanism with which he was raised in this honest, funny memoir of religious attraction and repulsion. An intelligent and perceptive thinker and critic of popular culture, Lawrence Bush examines the widespread spiritual 'awakening' of the baby-boomers and subsequent generations through a very personal (and very Jewish) lens. How did the bomb, psychedelic drugs, the modern environmental crisis, and other factors influence a generation's thinking about metaphysics and consciousness? What does 'spirituality' really mean? Bush also turns a skeptical eye towards the atheism and humanism with which he was raised in this honest, funny memoir of religious attraction and repulsion - Rabbi Arthur Waskow Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book A Delightful Compendium of Consolation A Fabulous Tale of Romance, Adventure and Faith in the Medieval Mediterranean By Burton L. Visotzky 2008, Ben Yehuda Press A historical novel from the scholar whose popular Torah study group inspired Bill Moyer's Genesis series. The year is 1031. Karimah, a charming, headstrong 19-year-old, has left her Jewish family in Egypt to follow her heart on an adventure that will take her far from home. It is a story of adventure - full of caravans, pirates and brigands, a tale of love, loss, and friendship, of youth turning to maturity. It is a story conveyed through letters: those Karimah sends, those that she receives, and some of the most poignant from those whose lives she has changed forever. The voices of the correspondents - sister and brother, father and rabbi - echo with tales from the Arabian Nights and the Babylonian Talmud. Underlying this compelling story are the historical realities of the 11th century world as revealed through the Cairo Geniza, the synagogue storeroom whose millenium-old collection of manuscripts, letters and business documents have been a rich resource for Jewish scholars since its discovery a century ago. A professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary, author Burton Visotzky has written monographs concerning Midrash manuscripts found in the Geniza. Now, with his first novel, he imagines that the Geniza letters which opened a window onto history, also granted us an intimate look at the human heart. Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book Life in the Present Tense Reflections on Family and Faith By Rifka Rosenwein 2008, Ben Yehuda Press PW: "Before her life was cut short by cancer at age 42 in 2003, Modern Orthodox writer and editor Rosenwein had been a beloved columnist for seven years for the New York Jewish Week, reflecting once a month on child-rearing, careers, love, holiness and Jewish tradition. With equal parts humor and heartache leaping from the page in the columns written after her cancer diagnosis, Rosenwein deals with aging parents, challenging modern schedules, timeless holy days and the joys of raising her three children. The columns address the quotidian concerns of a suburban Jewish family as well as more global issues: the fear and sadness after 9/11 and the sense of anxiety that some American Jews have about Israel. Sometimes, the rough thematic order of the short essays is distracting, as readers are expected to jump forward and then backward in time-her daughter is four, then a newborn. Since the essays are so heavily autobiographical, a chronological order would have better suited the collection. Still, this is a treasure trove of wisdom from one of American Judaism's most beloved and lamented voices. Rosenwein's husband, Barry Lichtenberg, provides a touching afterword, and novelist Tova Mirvis (a former intern of hers) the foreword." Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book Come with Me to Babylon A NOVEL by Paul M. Levitt (former chair of University of Colorado's English department and longtime co-director writing program) February 2008, University of New Mexico Press In 1910 the Cohen family, Meyer and Esther, in search of the Golden Medina, undertakes a dangerous journey from Russia to the United States, where the new world exposes family secrets, cultural conflicts, the corruption of the American Dream, and love's divides. Traveling in steerage to Ellis Island, the family endures the poverty and dirt of New York City and retreats to a farm in southern New Jersey--to find not the agricultural Eden they were promised, but Babylon. Told in several voices, such as that of Ben Cohen, one of the sons, this tale bears witness to a new generation learning to find hope in a land that often sacrifices human decency for profit and greed. The saga of an early twentieth-century Russian Jewish family and how they learn to find hope amidst many disappointments in America. Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book Dreams and Shadows The Future of the Middle East by Robin Wright February 2008, Penguin Robin Wright first landed in the Middle East on October 6, 1973, the day the fourth Middle East war erupted. She has covered every country and most major crises in the region since then, through to the rise of Al-Qaeda and the U.S. invasion of Iraq. For all the drama of the past, however, the region's most decisive traumas are unfolding today as the Middle East struggles to deal with trends that have already reshaped the rest of the world. And for all the darkness, there is also hope. Some of the emerging trends give cause for greater optimism about the future of the Middle East than at any time since the first Arab-Israeli War in 1948. Dreams and Shadows is an extraordinary tour d'horizon of the new Middle East, with on-the-ground reportage of the ideas and movements driving change across the region-and the obstacles they confront. Through the powerful storytelling for which the author is famous, Dreams and Shadows ties together the players and events in Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Morocco, Turkey, the Gulf states, and the Palestinian territories into a coherent vision of what lies ahead. A marvelous field report from the center of the storm, the book is animated by the characters whose stories give the region's transformation its human immediacy and urgency. It is also rich with the history that brought us to this point. It is a masterpiece of the reporter's art and a work of profound and enduring insight. Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book The Bush Tragedy by Jacob Weisberg 2008, Random House This is the book that cracks the code of the Bush presidency. Slate editor in chief Jacob Weisberg objectively examines the family and circle of advisers who played crucial parts in George W. Bush's historic downfall. Using in-depth research, revealing analysis, and keen psychological acuity, Weisberg explores the whole Bush story. According to the author, Bush chose to be the opposite of his upstanding, sober, hard working absent father and depressed angry neglected absent mother, and to be a rowdy drinking non-patrician, playboy. Is Jeb the Jacob, and George W. the Esau in the eyes of their parents? Weisberg also anatomizes the replacement family Bush surrounded himself with in Washington, a group he thought could help him correct the mistakes he felt had destroyed his father's presidency: Karl Rove, who led Bush astray by pursuing his own historical ambitions and transforming the president into a deeply polarizing figure; Dick Cheney, whose obsessive quest to restore presidential power and protect the country after 9/11 caused Bush and America to lose the world's respect; and, finally, Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice, who encouraged Bush's foreign policy illusions and abetted his flight from reality. Delving as no other biography has into Bush's religious beliefs-which are presented as at once opportunistic and sincere-The Bush Tragedy is an essential work that is sure to become a standard reference for any future assessment. Click the book cover to read more. MARCH 2008 BOOKS Please Excuse My Daughter A Memoir By Julie Klam March 2008, Riverhead A woman's hilarious, bittersweet account of growing up in a family of career-shunning, dependence-seeking women and her journey to a state of twenty-first-century self-reliance. Julie Klam was raised as the only daughter of a Jewish family in the exclusive WASP stronghold of Bedford, New York. Her mother was sharp, glamorous, and funny, but did not think that work was a woman's responsibility. Her father was fully supportive, not just of his wife's staying at home, but also of her extravagant lifestyle. Her mother's offbeat parenting style-taking Julie out of school to go to lunch at Bloomingdale's, for example-made her feel well-cared-for (and well-dressed) but left her unprepared for graduating and entering the real world. She had been brought up to look pretty and wait for a rich man to sweep her off her feet. But what happened if he never showed up? When Julie gets married to a hardworking but not wealthy man-one who expects her to be part of a modern couple and contribute financially to the marriage-she realizes how ambivalent and ill-equipped she is for life. Once she gives birth to a daughter, she knows she must grow up, get to work, and teach her child the self-reliance that she never learned. Delivered in an uproariously funny, sweet, self-effacing, and utterly memorable voice, Please Excuse My Daughter is a bighearted memoir from an irresistible new writer. Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book LET ME STAND ALONE THE JOURNALS OF RACHEL CORRIE March 2008. Norton First there was a play and book, and now the publication of her journals, in another attempt to canonize and glorify a 23 year old American, Rachel Corrie, who was killed on March 16, 2003, as she tried to block the demolition of a Palestinian family's home in the Gaza Strip. The book contains poems, essays, diary-like entries and her earliest reflections and her final e-mails. Seriously, I tried to read several but it seemed like na�ve adolescent drivel. She was quite prolific. Over 300 pages of poems and emails and essays, and she was only 23. In one entry she says that if she should die (page 43), her writing should be destroyed (if I die today: silence the birds if I die today / Let them only stare from the brass bars of their cages / and watch as my mother weeps. / Cover the flat faces of clocks with bloack cloth / and silence the alarms....... /.../....you must burn the papers under my bed / to charred leaves of ash / You must silence my dead voice / so it will not embarrass my memory....../// Her estate should have heeded that poem. Click the book cover to read more. FUNNY BOYS A novel By Warren Adler March 2008, Overlook Since the fame attending the publication and film of Warren Adler's The War of the Roses, Adler has been chronicling the American experience in novels and screenplays. Now, with Funny Boys, Adler takes on the New York of his childhood in a new novel with bestseller written all over it--a dark comedy of errors about success, the mob, and true love. Mickey Fine is a young man with a promising future in comedy. Attracted to the applause of the crowd at a lavish hotel casino in the Catskills, he gets a job as a tumler--part entertainer, part host, all funny boy. But he is na�ve to the more sinister side of his audience. They are mobsters and power players of New York's scandalous underbelly--men with whom Mickey had run-ins during his childhood. When Mutzie Feder, a Jean Harlow-esque gangster girlfriend, gets into the act with dreams of escaping her brutal reality, sparks fly between her and Mickey. But as their circumstances start to catch up with them--and the body count starts mounting from the rough crowd they're running with--Mickey and Mutzie start angling for a way out. That, of course, isn't as easy as it sounds. With film rights already optioned to a major producer, Funny Boys is a timeless love story and a sweeping American tale told as only Warren Adler could tell it. Smart, wry, and beautifully written, it's as unforgettable and authentic as anything Damon Runyon or Ring Lardner ever wrote, from a writer with a keen eye, an acute ear, and a very big heart. Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book Good Neighbors, Bad Times Echoes of My Father's German Village by Mimi Schwartz March 2008, University of Nebraska Press Mimi Schwartz grew up on milkshakes and hamburgers-and her father's boyhood stories. She rarely took the stories seriously. What was a modern American teenager supposed to make of these accounts of a village in Germany where, according to her father, "before Hitler, everyone got along"? It was only many years later, when she heard a remarkable story of the Torah from that very village being rescued by Christians on Kristallnacht, that Schwartz began to sense how much these stories might mean. Thus began a twelve-year quest that covered three continents as Schwartz sought answers in the historical records and among those who remembered that time. Welcomed into the homes of both the Jews who had fled the village fifty years earlier and the Christians who had remained, Schwartz peered into family albums, ate home-baked linzertorte (almost everyone served it!), and heard countless stories about life in one small village before, during, and after Nazi times. Sometimes stories overlapped, sometimes one memory challenged another, but always they seemed to muddy the waters of easy judgment. Small stories of decency are often overlooked in the wake of a larger historic narrative. Yet we need these stories to provide a moral compass, especially in times of political extremism, when fear and hatred strain the bonds of loyalty and neighborly compassion. How, this book asks, do neighbors maintain a modicum of decency in such times? How do we negotiate evil and remain humane when, as in the Nazi years, hate rules? Click the book cover for more reviews or to purchase the book Living Carelessly in Tokyo and Elsewhere A Memoir by John Nathan March 2008. Free Press One fun part of this memoir is Chapter 10, "A More Jewish Neighborhood," which is the author's recounting of his travels to Southern California to pitch his screenplay. John Nathan, 67, is the translator of Japanese works written by Yukio Mishima and Kenzaburo Oe. He is also an Emmy-award winning director of several documentaries and author of numerous works on Japan. A Harvard grad, he is the Takashima Professor of Japanese Cultural Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara. Click the book cover to read more. THE GERMAN BRIDE A novel By Joanna Hershon March 2008. Ballantine The life of Eva Frank, a Berlin born German Jewish woman, in post-Civil War Sante Fe, with her newly married husband Abraham Shein. From Publishers Weekly: Hershon's third novel (Swimming; The Outside of August) is a stylish account of a German Jewish young woman's often brutal odyssey to the post-Civil War American Southwest. After a family tragedy in Berlin, Eva Frank flees in shame and guilt to Santa Fe with her new husband, Abraham Shein. Abraham and his older brother, Meyer, are successful dry goods merchants, and once Eva and Abraham arrive in Santa Fe, Eva's narrative becomes a fish-out-of-water story as the promises Abraham made to her fail to materialize. Abraham, an abusive philanderer with a gambling addiction, wants a child, and Eva wants Abraham to build them a proper house. Eva-hoarding her dowry-begins scheming ways to abandon Santa Fe and establish a better life in San Francisco, but fleeing from unstable Abraham is a dangerous proposition. Though sometimes stilted, the novel, with its colorful cast, setting and redemptive conclusion, eventually wins the reader over. Click the book cover to read more.