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'
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Casual
Atmosphere
RISTORANTE
1
story, Weaver is found
investigating the mysteri-
:).,vas with ambivalent feelings that
ous death of his estranged
met my uncle the next morning
father, a notorious "stock-
d proceeded to the Bevis Marks
jobber" — known today
Z;'gue. Perhaps I should mention
as a stockbroker.
that not all Jews are so nice in their
To solve the mystery,
observation of the Sabbath as my uncle.
Weaver must contend
Some are far more observant, of course,
with a garrulous prostitute
but an even greater number care little
who knows too much
for this day of the week or that. Even
about his past, relatives
my uncle's short beard was thought by
who remind him of his
many Jews to be of ill fashion, for it was
alienation from the Jewish
something of a truism that any Jew with
faith and a cabal of pow-
a beard upon his face was either a rabbi
erful men in the under-
or a recent mmigrant. ...
world of British finance.
... The synagogue was crowded that
Along the way, readers get
morning -- more crowded than I had
a history lesson in the
remembered ever seeing it as a boy.
beginnings of the stock
There were perhaps 300 men downstairs
market.
and close to 100 women in the upper
Liss first became inter-
section. In addition to the worshippers,
ested in the subject matter
there was a pair of young English bucks
when he took a course at
.ho
,. came in to observe the Jews at wor-
Georgia State University
p. ...Indeed, visitors rarely hid their
in 18th-century fiction. "I
pftlexity with a service conducted
thought it would be a
ost entirely in a foreign language
good idea to have a plot
d in which men appear to engage in
that was interesting and
private contemplation as much as group
have characters that were
worship. For my own part, I found
engaging, rather than to
myself struggling very little with the
be pedantic and heavy-
Hebrew of the prayer book, for I had
handed with it," he says.
read these prayers so often when I was a
His attempts to make
y that they remained still firmly
the story palatable have
etched within . my memory, and speak-
apparently paid off.
JR again made me happy in a way
Random House has
not have anticipated.
printed 100,000 copies of
the book, a giant vote of
selling the book was I started
confidence for any author.
studying biblical Hebrew. I always
In the story, Weaver uses his
felt alienated in the synagogue before
brawn to contend with his problems,
because I didn't know the language.
something that Liss didn't write from
That's
something that personally I
personal experience. "There is cer-
wanted
to remedy and never had the
tainly a fantasy element here," offers
time."
Liss. "I think a lot of us would like to
Despite starting work on a second
be able to deal with our problems by
novel
(this one about the Jewish
beating up the people who irritate us.
community
in 17th-century
I certainly don't deal with my prob-
Amsterdam), Liss now has the oppor-
lems that way."
However, Liss can relate to Weaver's tunity and time to consider his spiri-
tuality. "I think having a religious
insecurities about his religion.
Jewish
identity is becoming a bigger
"I think Benjamin Weaver is some-
part
of
my sense of self," says Liss.
body who is learning what it's like to
"I'm
going
to synagogue more, keep-
be Jewish in a non-Jewish world with
ing
kosher,
learning Hebrew and
no model to follow," notes Liss.
making
Jewishness
a part of my life.
"I grew up in the small town of
"I
was
raised
with
this idea that I
Plantation, Fla., an area where there
was Jewish and it was important, but
was a lot of antisemitism. I suppose
I was never really told why or what it
that in that way there is some overlap
was.
That's something I don't want to
between me and Benjamin."
repeat
with my children." ❑
Liss is not having that problem
now. Living in the Jewish capital of
America, New York City, he is finding
Author David Liss can be
it easier to practice his Judaism. "I
reached
via his Web site,
have been becoming more religious in
www.davidliss.com
.
my adult life," reveals the 35-year-old.
"One of the first things I did after
I
All meat, fowl and fish
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I v ae n g t ie pta a sb ti o e ,, spooutpaio sa aln a d
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