Shabbat Afternoon Book Discussions This afternoon a dozen PSJCers discussed Helene Weckers debut novel The Golem and the Jinni. Two participants thought the nearly 500 pp. book should have been shorter and one of these admitted not caring for magical realism. But most of us had only good things to say about a book we felt succeeds on multiple levels and is an impressive debut. Our discussions are actually livelier when there is more division of opinion. Looking ahead on January 10, 2015 a half hour after the start of kiddish we will discuss A Replacement Life by Boris Fishman in which a frustrated aspiring writer composes fictional Holocaust narratives to help elderly Russian immigrants apply for reparations. In her Sunday NY Times book review nytimes/2014/06/15/books/review/a-replacement-life-by-boris-fishman.html Patricia T. OConner asks Is there room in American fiction for another brilliant young émigré writer? There had better be, because here he is. Boris Fishman’s first novel, A Replacement Life, is bold, ambitious and wickedly smart. In PSJCer David Coopers New York Journal of Books review nyjournalofbooks/book-review/luminous-heart-jonah-s he too praises this multidimensional and handsomely written debut novel. Aharon Levy (son of PSJCers Joel and Carol Levy) also reviewed A Replacement Life for Jewish Review of Books jewishreviewofbooks/articles/1148/something-borrowed/ , but that review is behind a pay wall (if you register without paying you can read up to three reviews). BPL has 27 copies. Two days after Purim on March 7, 2015 we will go to the land of Esther and Mordechai in the 20th Century and the Iranian-Jewish community in 21st Century Los Angeles when we discuss Gina Nahais 5th novel, The Luminous Heart of Jonah S. PSJCer Fran Hawthorne praises its engrossing characters in what she considers an overlong novel in her review in The National thenational.ae/arts-lifestyle/the-review/engrossing-characters-save-iranian-american-author-gina-nahais-overlong-new-novel . In David Coopers New York Journal of Books review nyjournalofbooks/book-review/luminous-heart-jonah-s he writes, the novel’s epic sweep, engaging prose, suspenseful plot, sense of humor, and introduction to a fascinating subculture outweigh its flaws. BPL has five copies, and NYPL has 11 copies. Mention PSJC to receive a 10% discount at Community Books on Seventh Ave in Park Slope. If you shop on Amazon please go to psjc.org first and click on the Amazon link so that our shul gets a % of your purchase.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 01:06:19 +0000