Leon Wieseltier on the Dangers of Radical Jews
Leon Wieseltier, literary editor of The New Republic “In Judaism,” writes Leon Wieseltier in the February 16, 2012, issue of The New Republic, “commentary has always been the most common expression of originality. Read More »-
When the Stars Are in Alignment Above North Vermont Avenue
Skylight Books and the entry to the Skylight Theatre When it comes to arts and letters in Los Angeles, an exceptionally bright spot can be found on a short stretch of Vermont Avenue just a bit north of Hollywood Boulevard. Read More » -
A Holocaust Scholar Denounces Pols Who Pander to Jewish Voters
Holocaust scholar Deborah Lipstadt speaks truth to power. If there were a Congressional Medal of Honor for historians, I would bestow it upon Deborah Lipstadt. Read More » -
Books and Pastrami Sandwiches
George Whitman at Shakespeare and Company in Paris, c. 1980. Today I pulled down a copy of John Keegan’s “Six Armies in Normandy” from my bookshelf and opened it to the title page, all in tribute to the late George Whitman, whose obituary appears in the New York Times . Read More » -
A Rude Beast in the West Bank
The headlines are reporting another sighting of the rude beast that is slouching toward Bethlehem, to borrow yet again the often-borrowed words of Yeats. Read More » -
Ray Bradbury Enters a Brave New World
“Fahrenheit 451″: Does it smell like burning fuel? A certain irony attaches to the fact that Ray Bradbury’s 1953 dystopian classic about book-burning, “Fahrenheit 451,” is now available as an electronic book. Read More » -
God Has His Critics, and So Does Harold Bloom
Harold Bloom as depicted in TNR. Harold Bloom’s recent musings on Mormonism in the New York Times caught the attention of my colleague, Mark Paredes, who blogged about Bloom in The Jewish Journal. I’ve been reading Harold Bloom with interest and admiration, and quoting him often in my own work, ever since I picked up “The Book of J” many years ago. Read More » -
The Mystery of the Missing Index
Another kind of index entirely: The Roman Catholic Church’s index of banned books.
There’s always something new in publishing in the digital era.
Gilad Sharon’s biography of his father, Ariel, which I reviewed here not long ago , bulks up to 626 pages, but the U.S. Read More » -
Why the Germans fought to the bitter end
Before the end: Hitler, Goebbels and one of his doomed children
My next book is a biography of an early Jewish resistance fighter who has been mostly overlooked in history, and so I am thinking a lot nowadays about Hitler’s “war against the Jews” and how, when and why the Jews fought back. Read More » -
Another One Bites the Dust
On my drive to work yesterday, I spotted the clearance signs inside the Barnes & Noble in the Westside Pavilion at the corner of Pico and Westwood. This morning, Kevin Roderick confirmed the bad news at LAobserved.com — the store at the Westside Pavilion is closing soon.
Another one bites the dust. Read More » -
Another One Bites the Dust
On my drive to work yesterday, I spotted the clearance signs inside the Barnes & Noble in the Westside Pavilion at the corner of Pico and Westwood. This morning, Kevin Roderick confirmed the bad news at LAobserved.com — the store at the Westside Pavilion is closing soon.
Another one bites the dust. Read More » -
Another One Bites the Dust
On my drive to work yesterday, I spotted the clearance signs inside the Barnes & Noble in the Westside Pavilion at the corner of Pico and Westwood. This morning, Kevin Roderick confirmed the bad news at LAobserved.com — the store at the Westside Pavilion is closing soon.
Another one bites the dust. Read More » -
To Every Thing There Is a Season
Portrait of Rembrandt’s Mother
I am still reeling a bit from the experience of attending Anna Deavere Smith’s riveting but also devastating show about death and dying, “Let Me Down Easy,” which just closed at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica.
As it turns out, the show was an appropriate way to prepare for Dr. Marc E. Read More » -
A Make-Over for the Mad Monk
Grigory Rasputin: Mad Monk or Friend of the Jews?
Almost every day, I am privileged to hear from authors who call my attention to their newly-published books. But none of them claimed my attention quite as forcefully as Delin Colón, author of “Rasputin and the Jews: A Reversal of History. Read More » -
From Pike to Greenberg to Koufax – Great Jewish Sports Heroes
Jews and Baseball : Sandy Koufax on the mound.
One of my fondest childhood memories are the baseball games that my grandfather and I watched on the public diamond in La Cienega Park. The players were Jews, and so were the fans. Perhaps that’s why I still think of baseball as a sport with a special resonance for Jews. Read More » -
So Passes the Glory of the World
The last days of Borders on State St. in Santa Barbara
Long ago, one of the charms of State Street in Santa Barbara was Earthling Books, one of those warm and welcoming bookstores that were the glory of bookselling not so long ago. Read More » -
“Bloodlands” Revisited – Is the Holocaust Something Unique in History?
The gates of Auschwitz.
After my review of “Bloodlands” by Timothy Snyder ran in The Jewish Journal, I received an email from Ken Waltzer, Director of Jewish Studies at Michigan State University. Prof. Waltzer has graciously allowed me to share it with our readers. Read More » -
The Comic Book After Auschwitz
“After Auschwitz,” goes the provocative aphorism of Theodor Adorno, “to write a poem is barbaric. Read More » -
Turning Numbers Into People
I’ve been running a Polish film festival in miniature at my house with a series of war movies by Andrzej Wajda, including “A Generation,” “Kanal,” “Ashes and Diamonds” and “Katyn. Read More » -
Poetry That Makes Something Happen
Kim Dower, author of “Air Kissing on Mars” Kim (Freilich) Dower is a svelte and stylish woman, but she looms large on the literary landscape of Los Angeles. Doing business as “Kim-from-L.A.,” she is among our most admired and beloved book publicists, a ubiquitous and cheery presence at every venue where authors and readers gather. Read More » - Load More
