CHARROUX, France — In this picturesque village in Central France I was able to attend a literary festival held in French and English. The three-day event was crowded with interesting talks, some in French but most in English, given by a wide range of writers. I wasn’t able to attend all of them, or even […]
Book lovers delight in festival in French town Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson
The Book of Love and Hate by Lauren Sanders; Akashic Books ©2017; 300 pages; ISBN 9781617-755828. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Jennifer is the daughter of a fugitive billionaire, American businessman who is somewhere on the lam in Israel—or is he already dead? Jennifer’s mother abandoned the family years ago, and her brother,
Finding oneself–or not–in the land of Israel Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison
The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Dr. Edith Eva Eger; Scribner, 289 pages including index; $27. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – This book, no doubt, will be remembered as important for going beyond the realm of a Holocaust memoir and becoming a Holocaust life lesson. For Eger, the retelling of her experiences at
Eger: How to survive evil and restore emotional freedom Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish HistoryWe all think we know Curious George, the rambunctious primate who’s been entertaining children since his first book was published in 1941. He’s been in television shows, blockbuster movies and video games, shaping the lives of countless children. But a new documentary, Monkey Business, tells the story of the iconic children’s character on film for
Film Shows How ‘Curious George’ Creators Escaped Nazis Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USABig Bang Theory star’s second book offers advice to teenage girls in need of guidance Mayim Bialik is one of the highest-paid actresses on television, but she is resolutely un-Hollywood. For the past seven years, she has played Amy Farrah Fowler, the socially awkward, cardigan-wearing neuroscientist in long-running sitcom The Big Bang Theory. Yet she
Bialik: Being a girl is more complicated now Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USASujatha Gidla was only 2 years old when she first realized she’s different. One day, her parents had a fight. Her mother stormed out of the house and headed for the railway station. There, she bumped into a colleague, who was also with her daughter. “My mother was carrying me and she was carrying her
In India, she was ‘untouchable.’ In New York City, she became an author. Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, InternationalReason to Believe: Rational Explanations of Orthodox Jewish Faith by Chaim Jachter, Menorah Books, New Milford, CT, © 2017,ISBN 978-1-940516-71-4, p. 234 plus appendices, $24.95 By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California – If believing is having faith in the evidence, then one might suspect that religion and reason share no common ground, but this is not the
Rabbi tells rationale for accepting Torah as divine Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish ReligionAlthough it’s still tough to find an interested publisher, several new outfits offer increased opportunities — online and on shelves By Renee Ghert-Zand Author Sharon Hart-Green spent nearly a decade writing her debut novel, “Come Back For Me,” about the the lives of first and second generation WWII refugees and Holocaust survivors in Canada and
Got a Jewish novel in your drawer? Now might be the time to pull it out Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, InternationalNewsweek published this story under the headline “Marilyn: The 24-Year Itch” on November 10, 1986. In light of the 55th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe’s death, Newsweek is republishing the story. Marilyn. No one ever asks, Marilyn who? From the breathy, near-sighted Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes to the screen-worn Reno divorcee in The Misfits,
Why Marilyn Monroe Is Still So Famous Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Theatre, Film & BroadcastAlexandra Silber’s ‘After Anatevka’ follows characters Hodel and Perchik in a journey that often mirrors her own By Cathryn J. Prince NEW YORK — For two years Alexandra Silber played Hodel in a London production of “Fiddler on the Roof.” But with the last performance, the last curtain call and the last round of applause,
‘Fiddler’ actress keeps the story going with debut novel Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Theatre, Film & BroadcastBy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — After a contentious press conference about the President’s unveiling of immigration reforms, senior advisor Stephen Miller secretly ordered the removal of Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus” from the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty and replaced it with a poem he authored. The Greater Colossus by Stephen Miller (aka:
Humoring the headlines: August 3, 2017 Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, USAA Horse Walks Into a Bar by David Grossman (published in Hebrew by Hasifriya Hahadasha) By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson DOMEYROT, France — I am proud to announce that I have completed my first vacation task, namely, to read the Hebrew version of David Grossman’s book, the English translation of which was awarded the prestigious Man Booker
The author’s joke, alas, is on the reader Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-VansonAuthor David Dalin’s new book explores the inner lives of trailblazing Members of the Tribe who helped mold the nation’s highest court By Rich Tenorio Eight out of 113 justices to have wielded the gavel in the United States’ highest court can also lay claim to membership in another club — the Tribe — and
The 8 Jewish justices who made the US Supreme Court jump Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Elliott Abrams’ Realism and Democracy: American Foreign Police after the Arab Spring (A Council on Foreign Relations Book, Cambridge University Press, 2017) is both a useful assessment of Arab Spring and what came next, and an insightful commentary on the nature of a world power and those who serve it.
U.S. realism and idealism in the Middle East Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA