Words of the Week: Richard Goldstone

by Erika Dreifus on
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As you may have heard by now, a certain Richard Goldstone has had second thoughts about a certain report that bears his name. In The Washington Post, Goldstone writes, among other things, that “If I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document.”

Too little, too late. His report’s damage has been done. As always, Jeffrey Goldberg sums it all up perfectly, in a blog post and in an even more concise tweet: “Shorter Goldstone: Without evidence, I accused Israel of premeditated murder. My bad!”

Notes from Around the Web: Literary Links for Shabbat

by Erika Dreifus on
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(Today marks the beginning of National Poetry Month, and this link list appropriately begins with poetry for the occasion.)

  • On Monday, The Chronicle of Higher Education‘s Arts & Academe blog featured Erika Meitner’s poem, “Yizker Bukh.”
  • Adam Kirsch reviews and recommends Whitethorn, a new poetry collection by Jacqueline Osherow.
  • Yoram Kaniuk has won the Sapir Prize for Literature.
  • “Writer, historian and playwright Jane Mushabac will perform and discuss her Sephardic short story “Pasha: Ruminations of David Aroughetti” on Monday, April 11, from 5 to 6:30 p.m., in New York City College of Technology’s (City Tech) Atrium Amphitheater, 300 Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn. The public is invited to this free event.”
  • Remember that my story collection, Quiet Americans is the Jewish Book Council’s April selection for its Twitter Book Club. Come tweet with us on April 12.
  • And if you’re a Kindle fan, here’s some extra good news: Quiet Americans is now available for the Kindle! And I’m giving away two “copies”!
  • Quiet Americans has also been chosen by a Pennsylvania synagogue for its May book group. I’ll be chatting with the group via phone when they gather. If you’re interested in inviting me to join your discussion of Quiet Americans–or even if you’d just like to peruse a few discussion questions–please click here for more information.

    • Shabbat shalom!

    Philip Roth at the Center for Jewish History in May

    by Erika Dreifus on
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    An Evening with Philip Roth

    When: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 (7 pm)

    Where: YIVO/Center for Jewish History (NYC)

    Cost: $25 general, $20 YIVO members

    The YIVO Institute is pleased to present a special evening with acclaimed novelist Philip Roth. Roth will read excerpts from his new novel, Nemesis (2010), which tells the story of a terrifying polio epidemic raging in Newark, New Jersey in the summer of 1944 and its devastating effect on the closely knit, family-oriented community and its children. Through this story, Roth addresses profound questions of human existence: What types of choices fatally shape a life? How does the individual withstand circumstance?

    Following the reading, there will be a panel discussion with YIVO Executive Director Jonathan Brent, Bernard Avishai (Hebrew University), Igor Webb (Adelphi University) and Steven Zipperstein (Stanford University).

    Notes from Around the Web: Literary Links for Shabbat

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • Mazel Tov to Austin Ratner, who has won the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature in fiction for his debut novel, The Jump Artist (Bellevue Literary Press), and to Joseph Skibell, who is the runner-up and recipient of of the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature Choice Award. His award-winning novel is A Curable Romantic (Algonquin). Two more books on my to-read list.
  • Make that three. After reading Sandee Brawarsky’s review, I’m putting Sharon Pomerantz’s Rich Boy atop the list.
  • “With new Jewish-themed television programs, critically acclaimed Jewish fiction, experimental electro-klezmer bands and Jewish-Muslim theater groups, British Jews are producing obviously Jewish-inflected artworks in increasingly vibrant and creative ways, which often become part of the mainstream culture,” writes Rebecca Schischa, for The Jewish Week.
  • Adam Kirsch reviews the newly-available translation (by Tim Wilkinson) of Imre Kertesz’s Fiasco.
  • For his part, Jonathan Kirsch reviews and recommends a new novel by Alan Cheuse, Song of Slaves in the Desert, which features a character “who stands in for the 3 to 5 percent of American slaveholders in the antebellum South who were Jewish.”
  • Job alert: “New Voices and JSPS [the Jewish Student Press Service] are seeking a full-time Editor in Chief/Executive Director. New Voices is the only national, independent magazine written for and by Jewish college students. Published by the Jewish Student Press Service (est. 1971), New Voices and newvoices.org cover Jewish issues from a student perspective. JSPS also runs the annual National Jewish Student Journalism conference, now in its 40th year.”
  • Another job alert, this time from the Jewish Federation of Broward County, Fla., which is seeking a part-time PJ Library Community Coordinator.