1
Eight Nights is
So Many Books
For Chanukah, say, "I love you,"
with a book that speaks to
the special interests of family and friends.
GAIL ZIMMERMAN
Arts & Entertainment Editor
FOR THE SPIRITUAL SEEKER
In Treasures of the Heart: Holiday Stories that Reveal
the Soul of Judaism (Schocken Books; $27), story-
teller and mythologist Diane Wolkstein interweaves
oral legends and teachings into the fabric of tradi-
tional stories from the Bible, creating new tales that
remain faithful to the spirit of their original sources
yet offer a modern perspective.
Structured according to the Jewish calendar, the
book's stories highlight the role of female characters
as well as male, and balance the masculine aspect of
God by introducing the concept of the Shechinah,
God's feminine presence on Earth. Each story is
accompanied by informative commentary using his-
torical, kabbalistic and personal interpretations.
Wolkstein, the author of 21 books of folklore, is
the co-founder of the New York City Storytelling
Center and winner of the National Storytelling
Award for Excellence.
4M2M s .
FOR THE FICTION FAN
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V7S
Lost Tribe: Jewish Fiction from the Edge (Perennial/
Harper Collins; $14.95 paperback), edited by Paul
Zakrzewski, is a provocative collection of short-story
fiction by a new generation of Jewish writers.
Zakrzewski compiled the book to highlight 25 top
writers of the new vanguard, which he dubs "the post-
Roth generation." Like Roth, these writers flirt with
controversial topics, such as conflicted identities, sexu-
al fetishes and religious intolerance. Some of the
young, and fresh, voices included in this collection are
those of Nathan Englander, Jonathan Safran Foer,
Myla Goldberg, Gary Shteyngart, Aryeh Lev Stollman,
Rachel Kadish, Ellen Miller and Tova Miris, in a mix
of new and previously published works.
In addition to the stories, Lost Tribe features brief
interviews with the contributors, who describe
their perspective on "Jewish" writing. The book's
editor is literary director of the Jewish Community
Center in Manhattan.
Arthur Gelb has written a memoir of his five
decades at the New York Times, where he began as a
lowly night copy boy and retired 45 years later at
the top, as managing editor.
Raised by hardworking Jewish immigrant parents in
the Bronx, Gelb learned about the newspaper busi-
ness in the Times' city room. As metropolitan editor,
he reshaped the way the paper covered New York; as
assistant managing editor, he launched the paper's
daily special sections that helped it surmount a finan-
cial crisis. As well as a personal memoir, this book also
is a history of a tumultuous half-century in American
life, and a history of the author's beloved home, New
York City, and its ever-changing cultural scene.
After his mandatory retirement at age 65 in 1990,
Gelb, who serves on numerous boards, became pres-
ident of the New York Times Company Foundation,
where he led numerous nonprofit projects; he cur-
rently serves as director of the New York Times
Scholarship Program.
FOR THE NEWS JUNKIE
FOR THE MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
In City Room (Marion Wood/Putnam; $29.95),
12/19
2003
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How did the tiny Jewish minority come to pro-