Photo Credit: Reut Miryam CohenEvery Friday morning My Machberet presents an assortment of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.
Publishers Weekly has given a starred review to Jason K. Friedman’s short-story collection, Fire Year, which won the Sarabande Press Mary McCarthy Prize for Short Fiction. Here’s the review’s first line: “These seven funny, fearless outsiders’ tales set in Savannah and Atlanta—some depicting bygone orthodox Jewish communities, others the rife-with-irony “New South”—gravitate toward taboo.” The book will be published in November. (h/t Racelle Rosett)
Over on Tablet, Marjorie Ingall recommends three Jewish biographies (ostensibly for children) that “are so unabashedly fabulous, such a perfect blend of writing and art, so good at explaining complicated subjects, so inspiring without being sappy, you need to stop what you’re doing and buy them all right now.”
An exemplary “negative review”Michael Berenbaum’s sage and sensitive analysis of BDS advocate Alice Walker’s latest book. (On a related note: my reaction to the news that the University of Michigan’s Center for the Education of Women had rescinded an invitation for Walker to address its 50th-anniversary celebration gathering.)
On Bloomberg.com, Manuela Hoelterhoff takes readers through what Laurie Muchnick calls “surprising tour of novels and memoirs about the Nazi period.”
The Forward‘s “The Sisterhood” blog is asking readers for brief submissions (up to 200 words) to include in a larger package on the role of Jewish women in mourning. Submission deadline is August 28. Details and submission form provided here. (NB: This is a nonpaying opportunity.)
