Arts & Entertainment

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Eight Nights 46

Books

Finding Chanukah gifts with Jewish themes is an easy venture
when the recipients are reading enthusiasts.

Suzanne Chessier

Special to the Jewish News

ach year, Jewish authors and oth-
ers interested in Jewish subjects
fill bookstore shelves with vol-
umes in many categories. The sampling
below shows holiday book buyers some of
the latest releases and provides a brief
summary of each edition.
In keeping with the timeframe of the
Festival of Lights, the books are divided
into eight categories — one for each night
of candle lighting. The volumes can
extend the celebration by giving a deeper
understanding of the heritage inspiring
each writing project.
(See next week's JN for a story on chil-
dren's books for Chanukah.)

E

PHOTOGRAPHY

Full-page images of holy sites and reli-
gious artifacts are the focal points for
Symbols of Judaism (Assouline
Publishing; $120) by Marc-Alain
Ouaknin, associate professor of compara-
tive literature at Bar-Ilan University in
Israel. While pointing out the importance
of the images, the author probes the tra-
ditions linked to the symbols.
Whether showing the Mount of Olives
or Sabbath candlesticks in a large-scale
format, the author traces the meanings
from the origins of the symbols to what
they represent today. There also are expla-
nations of religious holidays and feasts.

The Jewish
Museum and
Yale University
Press collabo-
rated on The
Jewish Identity
Project ($40) to
show the com-
plexity and
diversity of
today's Jews and their religious practices.
Author Susan Chevlowe, with essays by
Joanna Lindenbaum and Ilan Stavans,
explores different ethnic backgrounds at
various locations.
The writers bring strong backgrounds
to this project. Chevlowe and

Lindenbaum are independent curators,
while Stavans works as a college professor
specializing in Latino culture.

Eyes of Memory: Photographs From
the Archives of Herbert and Leni
Sonnenfeld (Yale University Press: $50)
takes readers back to the 1930s and
1940s, when this photojournalist couple
were in their prime. With a worldly view,
the two traveled from Germany to the
land that would become Israel and cap-
tured the experiences of everyday people.
The Sonnenfelds, who launched their
camera careers in Germany, relocated to
the United States. Along the way, they
took and showed pictures of Jews in Iran,
Morocco, Spain and other exotic places.

Robert Sharoff and William Zbaren col-
laborated on Detroit Architecture 1845-
2005 (Wayne State University Press; $48).
A coffee table edition, it includes images
and histories of the city's best-known
structures — from the Fox Theatre to the
Frank Murphy Hall of Justice.
Although the focus of the book is not
primarily Jewish, there couldn't be a book
about Detroit architecture without refer-
ence to Jewish architect Albert Kahn.
Writer Sharoff's and photographer
Zbaren's projects have appeared in the New
York Times as well as other periodicals.

Eighty years ago, a group of rural
Africans converted to Judaism. Their alle-
giance to the faith comes to life in
Abayudaya: The Jews of Uganda
(Abbeville Press; $75). Photos show
adults at work, children at play and
friends at services.
Author Richard Sobol has written for
magazines. His co-author, Jeffrey Summit,
teaches at Tufts University, where he also
serves as a rabbi.

Author Judy Blume and-her grandson
Elliot Blume are among the Jewish rela-
tionships described in Grandmothers
(Stewart Tabori & Chang; $24.95). The
book, by Lauren Cowen and Jayne Wexler,
stresses the importance of the connection
shared by individuals of different genera-
tions.

Cowen has
written for
numerous
magazines and
newspapers.
Wexler's pic-
tures have been
seen in maga-
zines and ads. Together, they completed
Girlfriends and Daughters & Mothers, a
New York Times bestseller.

ENTERTAINMENT

Comedian Groucho Marx and Beatle John
Lennon had a lot in common, according
to best-selling author and humorist Joey
Green, who aims to show, through quoted
comments, that
both entertainers
viewed the world
in similar ways.
Their similari-
ties are pointed
out in Marx &
Lennon: The
Parallel Sayings
(Hyperion; $8.95).
An example
begins with a statement by Marx, who
said, "Life is short, let's live while we may,
for tomorrow the landlord may be here
for the rent." Similarly, Lennon said, "Life
is very short / And there's no time / For
fussing and fighting my friend."
Green, who wrote 30 books, regularly
makes the rounds of talk shows.

Insight into Jewish theater. comes .
across through Nine Contemporary,.
Jewish Plays (University of Texas Press;
$26.77). Edited by novelist Ellen Schiff
and theater professor Michael Posnick,
the anthology presents a range of issues
and interests developed with the assis-
tance of commissions from the National
Foundation for Jewish Culture.
The subjects, offered by well-knoWn
and emerging writers, reach from family
to the coexistence of people of different
heritage. Featured playwrights include
Donald Margulies, Ari Roth and Nora
Glickman.
Ellen Naomi Cohen had big dreams and
realized at least one of them — stardom.

She got there in part by singing about
dreams, "California Dreamin" and
"Dream a Little Dream of Me." Known by
her stage name, Cass Elliot, the singer
went out on her own after catching public. .
attention as a member ofthe Mamas and
the Papas..
Dream a Little Dream of Me: The Life
-of Cass Elliot (Chicago Review Press;
$24.95) tells about the singer's struggles
and successes as she
civiream
moved from an •
tineant
unhappy adolescence
due to her weight
cif,1
(included is a bit
about her stint as a
receptionist and obit-
. uary writer at the
Baltimore Jewish
Times). Biographer
Eddi Fiegel, a British
journalist, features new interviews with
celebrities who knew the vocalist best.

MEMOIRS

The entertainment team of Dean Martin
and Jerry Lewis lives on through their
movies long after the singer and comedi-
an parted ways and Martin died. Lewis,
seen every Labor Day in his telethon to
fight muscular dys-
trophy, recalls their
time together and
apart in Dean &
Me (A Love Story)
(Doubleday;
$26.95).
Written with nov-
elist-journalist
James Kaplan, the
shared biography
recalls connections with other entertain-
ers and explains Lewis' conviction that
Martin's talents were underrated.

Comedian-actor-director Billy Crystal
cherished the Sundays he spent with his
late dad and recalls them in 700 Sundays
(Warner Books; $21.95) — also the name
of his acclaimed one-man Broadway
show. These were treasured days because
his dad worked two jobs and couldn't

Eight Nights on page 46

December 22 2005

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