Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
Every Friday morning My Machberet presents an assortment of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • This Fiction Writers Review interview with Molly Antopol heightened my interest in Antopol’s debut story collection The UnAmericans (although my interest level was already pretty high). Note the segment in which Antopol answers the question, “So do you consider The UnAmericans a Jewish book?” (On a related note: I have a guest post this week on The Whole Megillah in which I reflect [again] on what defines a “Jewish story.”)
  • Joanna Chen’s essay for the Los Angeles Review of Books introduced me to the poetry of Agi Mishol.
  • If, like me, you missed the chance to see the Elif Batuman/Gary Shteyngart double-feature at the 92nd Street Y earlier this month, you can catch the video here.
  • You’ve probably seen plenty of laudatory reviews of Ari Shavit’s My Promised Land (including some cited here on My Machberet). More recently, I’ve caught two less enthusiastic takes: one on The Daily Beast and one from Moment magazine. See what you think about them.
  • And last, but definitely not least: the latest Jewish Book Carnival, hosted most graciously by the Jewish Book Council.
  • Shabbat shalom.