I’m already after planning my post-Bloomsday reading, and am looking for some recommendations for good (and, if possible, surreal) Jewish fiction.
Things I have read and am steering away from- No more Isaac Bashevis Singer. Really. And I once met the late Chaim Potok at my Hebrew school and was unimpressed. I’ve gone through a book of Yiddish plays, For the Relief of Unbearable Urges and Golems of Gotham. I’ve done my time with Wiesel, Levi, Kozinski, Roth and Malamud.
So what I’m looking for, if it exists, is the Jewish equivalent of “Magical Realism.” “Lilith” only comes out 4 times a year, with limited fiction reviews and the Forward doesn’t cut it. Anybody got any ideas? As you might guess, Jewish lit isn’t my specialty anymore.
AL
Disclaimer: I’m not Jewish and I’ve no expertise on Jewish Literature. Nevertheless, I have read a few books with Jewish characters that I’ll toss out for you to consider:
I’m not a big fan of magical realism, but check out Robert Silverberg’s short story “The Dybbuk of Mazel Tov IV”. I’ve also heard good things about Richard Zimler’s “The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon”
Also, even though they’re older authors, and not really magical realism, have you read Joseph Heller (well, he’s sort of an absurdist author), Herman Wouk, or Saul Bellow?
I’m seriously considering Last Kabbalist of Lisbon as I had it in my hands at work a couple weeks ago. No one seems to be able to tell me anything about Foer, even if they’ve read it. I asked a customer and they said “yeah…Jewish guy, ya know…goes back to Eastern Europe. You know, looking for his roots.” Stylistically, what’s this one like?
Bernard Malamud is a great Jewish author. He wrote one of my favorite novels, The Assistant, but his best stuff is in his short stories. He sometimes writes mystically, but when he does, he blends it into the situations of the normal working-class. If you just want to start with a few stories, try The Magic Barrel, although I have The Complete Stories of Bernard Malamud and I love that as well.
I will second The Bee Season by Myla Goldberg - very well written, has strong Jewish themes and is an insightful look at a family under tension - each character is pretty well fleshed out.
The two books I have read by Allegra Goodman were both very well-written and would fit in this category - Kaaterskill Falls and The Family Markowitz.
Turns out we’ve sold the copy of “Kabbalist of Lisbon” So I’ll wait till our next comes in. I’ve heard the name Goodman before, so I’ll look into that.
The real reason I’m looking for “Magical Realism” type things is because I’m a writer myself, and am trying to figure out if there are other people out there, being weird along with me (and not just neurotic).
I had very little patience for Malamud…but I should give him another try.