The annual Hanukkah Lights stories are now available on National Public Radio. This year’s batch features works from Rebecca O’Connell, Lev Raphael, Margot Singer, and Shira Nayman. Can’t wait to listen to the whole group.
Admittedly, NPR sometimes gets on my nerves–a little too quick to criticize Israel, a little too often–but today, I appreciate it. Chag sameach!
Shabbat shalom!
MR. ROSENBLUM DREAMS IN ENGLISH
Natasha Solomons
Reagan Arthur Books, 2010. 368 pp. $23.99
ISBN: 978-0-316-07758-3
Review by Erika Dreifus
By now, we are familiar with literature penned by “2G”-ers, children of the second generation, whose Jewish parents survived Nazi persecution. With time’s passage, it was inevitable that we’d begin to see writings from the next generation: the grandchildren.
British writer Natasha Solomons is one such grandchild. The “About the Author” section at this debut novel’s end reveals that Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English is based “on her own grandparents’ experience.” The novel focuses on Jack (né Jakob) Rosenblum, who emigrates from Germany with his wife, Sadie, and their baby daughter in the summer of 1937. Upon arrival, Jack receives a “dusky blue pamphlet entitled While you are in England: Helpful Information and Friendly Guidance for every Refugee.” If Jack cherishes a Bible, this pamphlet is it: “He obeyed the list with more fervour than the most ardent Bar Mitzvah boy did the laws of Kashrut….” Over time, he expands and adds to the list based on his own observations.
Sadie Rosenblum does not share her husband’s enthusiasm for throwing off their past (or for his “verdammt list”). She is haunted by the family left behind—and lost—in Germany. This domestic conflict underlies the novel. But the challenge that actively propels the plot is Jack’s quest to build a golf course in Dorset, which results from his being denied golf-club membership—the final list item, “the quintessential characteristic of the true English gentleman.”
This is a gorgeous book, with setting, scenes, and dialogue all artfully managed (an aside: the cover art is equally lovely, although I can’t help wishing that this American edition had preserved the British title, Mr. Rosenblum’s List: Or Friendly Guidance for the Aspiring Englishman). It is no surprise to discover that Solomons is a screenwriter. Let us hope that she will soon script this story for film.
(This review was published in Jewish Book World, Winter 5771/2010.)
“The Yiddish Book Center is seeking a creative, energetic and experienced Director of Communications and Visitor Services (Director of Communications) to provide leadership and management for the direction, planning and execution of all communications strategies, publication, and web-based initiatives to expand the Book Center’s audience and membership and to enhance the institution’s national profile. The Director of Communications will create a strategic plan for communications, both print and online, to promote the values and mission of the Book Center. In addition, this individual will oversee and improve the visitor experience on-site. Reporting to the Executive Director and serving as an integral member of the senior management team, the Director of Communications will work to develop the Book Center’s identity and expand and engage new audiences. The Director of Communications supervises a Communications Associate and the docent program. In addition, the Director engages and supervises consultants in design, editing, and other areas. This individual must work closely with development, membership and education departments to design all collateral material and effectively promote all initiatives. The Director of Communications will be responsible for the redesign and ongoing oversight of the Book Center’s flagship magazine, Pakn Treger.”
Source: JewishJobs.com. Go there for more information/to apply.
From the new National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia: “The Jewish Quarterly Review is holding a conference, ‘Journals & Jewish Intellectual Life: The Jewish Quarterly Review at 100’ in honor of its 100th anniversary Sunday, Dec. 12, at the Museum. The conference is free and open to the public. Space is limited and registration is required. For more information or to register, visit http://www.cjs.upenn.edu/public/jqr100/index.html.