Arts & Entertainment
ON THE COVER
Dive Into
A Good Book
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Our annual summer reading roundup.
Diana Lieberman
Special to the Jewish News
hatever your Jewish-themed
interests — murder myster-
ies, chick lit, middle-aged
angst, ancient cultures, scientific advances,
Tin Pan Alley — chances are some author
has recently tackled the subject.
It would take a volume the size of the New
York City phone book to describe every
new work of literature written by or about
Jews since last June's summer reading
issue. So we've eliminated those that have
been reviewed in earlier editions of the
Jewish News — and those of dubious
literary value — to come up with enough
suggestions — a variety of fiction and
nonfiction titles — to keep you busy till
the first frost. Enjoy!
.
•
Fiction
Getting Old Is Murder and Getting
Old Is the Best Revenge, by Rita Lakin
(Bantam Dell paperbacks; $6.99 each):
In the first two books of a new continu-
ing series, Gladdy Gold, who calls herself
Florida's oldest private eye, enjoys life and
canasta while investigating cases — from
a serial murderer to a cheating spouse —
with her gang of eccentric Fort Lauderdale
retirees.
Absurdistan, by Gary Shteyngart
(Random House; $24.95): Shteyngart
returns to the territory of his first novel,
The Russian Debutante's Handbook, in
this black comedy about a gullible young
Russian emigre who returns to his father's
homeland to find love and intrigue.
The Doctor's Daughter, by Hilma
Wolitzer (Ballantine Books; $24.95): Alice
Brill has all the problems of the sandwich
generation — a son who can't seem to
find himself, a formerly brilliant father
with dementia, a marriage that doesn't live
up to her expectations. A new relation-
ship and unexpected events bring about a
tenuous self-knowledge in the latest work
by a veteran novelist.
Accidents, by Yael Hedaya (Metropolitan
Books/Henry Holt and Co; $28): Two
writers — a single father with a preco-
cious daughter and a best-selling novelist
— begin a tentative relationship in this
sensitive novel by a leading Israeli jour-
nalist and humor columnist. A best-seller
in Israel, Accidents was translated by
Jessica Cohen.
Up From Orchard Street, by Eleanor
Widmer (Bantam Dell; $23): Crises,
humor and love abound in this debut
novel of an immigrant family in a crowd-
ed tenement flat on New York's Lower East
Side. Set in the 1930s, the book is based
on memories of the author, who died at
the age of 80 in 2004.
Triangle, by Katharine Weber (Farrar,
Straus and Giroux; $23): History and
imagination combine in this novel, as an
elderly woman who survived the 1911
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire speaks
of the tragic event and its aftermath to
her loving granddaughter and the grand-
daughter's musician boyfriend.
A Wall of Light, by Edeet Ravel
(HarperCollins paperback; $13.95): In this
third novel by Israeli-Canadian author
Edeet Ravel, three generations of a con-
flicted Tel Aviv family tell their stories,
spanning the 1950s to present-day Israel.
Un-Bridaled, by Eileen Rendahl
(Downtown Press paperback; $13): In this
lightweight summer novel, nice Jewish girl
Chloe Sachs deserts her intended at the
altar and finds a new life with her loving
dogs, her loving grandmother and — just
maybe — the real love of her life.
Intuition, by Allegra Goodman (Dial
Press; $25): The author of Kaaterskill
Falls, Goodman here focuses her attention
on a community of dedicated scientists.
Sandy Glass and Marion Mendelssohn,
co-directors of a lab pursuing cancer
research, confront a crisis when ques-
tions arise about the validity of their lab's
groundbreaking research.
Love Burns, by Edna Mazya (Europa
Editions paperback; $14.95): A dark
comedy-thriller about an aging Israeli
physicist facing career, marital and vari-
ous other existential problems, a la Woody
Allen. This debut novel by an esteemed
Israeli playwright was translated by Dalya
Bilu.
The World To
Come, by Dara
Horn (W. W.
Norton; $24.95):
Mystery,
romance, folk-
lore, theology, history, religion and sibling
rivalry combine in this ambitious novel.
The story centers on the truth about a
million-dollar Chagall painting, stolen by
a former child prodigy who is convinced it
used to hang in his parents' living room.
Jane Austen in Scarsdale: Or Love,
Death and the SATs, by Paula Marantz
Cohen (St. Martin's Press; $23.95): The
best-selling author of Jane Austen in
Boca brings her incisive wit to a high
school on Long Island, where her hard-
working heroine tries to match wealthy
teens with the right colleges while manag-
ing her vigorous grandmother and her
less-than-vigorous love life.
The Lost Van Gogh, by A.J. Zerries
(Tor/Forge; $24.95): As art cop Clay Ryder
investigates the disappearance of two
priceless paintings from a Central Park
penthouse and the appearance of a mys-
terious Van Gogh, he becomes embroiled
in the aftermath of the Nazi pillage of
Jewish-owned art. A.J. Zerries is the nom
de plume of portrait artist Al Zerries and
his wife, Jean, who have previously worked
as a creative team in advertising.
The Second Coming of Mavala -
Shikongo, by Peter Orner (Little, Brown
& Co.; $23.95): The author, who currently
teaches at San Francisco State University,
has lived and worked in Namibia, the set-
ting for this first novel. The story centers
on the relationship between American vol-
unteer Larry Kaplanski and mysterious,
beautiful teacher Mavala Shikongo.
Responsible Men, by Edward
Schwarzchild (Algonquin Books of Chapel
Hill; $23.95): Is there any such thing as
a responsible man? What makes Max
Wolinsky cross the line from responsible
family man to con man — and back again
— is the key to this novel of middle-aged
angst, set in modern Philadelphia.
The Nimrod Flipout, by Etgar Keret
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux paperback;
$12): In these short stories — some
are only six or eight paragraphs long
— Israeli author Etgar Keret blends sur-
realism with the absurdity of everyday life.
His translators were Miriam Schlesinger
and Sondra Silverstein.
The Tattoo Artist, by Jill Ciment
(Pantheon Books; $23): As this thoughtful
and unique novel begins, Philip and Sara
Ehrenreich lead an enviable life in the
New York art world, circa 1920-30. When
the art bubble bursts, they take off for the
South Seas where, after Philip's death, Sara
becomes elder craftsman of the art of tat-
tooing.
Matches, by Alan Kaufman (Back Bay
Books/Little Brown and Co. paperback;
$13.95): An American Jew experiences
a complex mix of exhilaration, anxiety
and despair serving in the Israeli Defense
Forces. Kaufman, a San Francisco-based
journalist and poet, based his novel on the
time he spent as a combat infantryman in
the IDF during two wars.
Memoirs of a Muse, by Lara Vapnyar
(Pantheon; $22.95): Tanya Rumer arrives
in Brooklyn from Moscow filled with
romantic visions of literary life — specifi-
cally, finding a great author and becoming
his muse. However, the author she hooks
up with is no genius.
Elements of Style, by Wendy Wasserstein
(Alfred A. Knopf; $23.95): In this tragi-
comedy, sincere, hard-working physician
Frankie Weissman and her more glamorous
friends forge ahead in a Manhattan shaken
by 9-11. The author of many hit plays,
Wasserstein died in January.
Hedwig and Berti, by Frieda Arkin
(Thomas Dunne/Griffin Paperbacks;
$12.95): Two upper-class German Jews,
forced to leave their homeland as Hider
comes to power, end up in a university
Dive Into on page 42
June 29 • 2006
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