Jewish Book Club discussion
Authors' Space
>
Authors Announcing Their Work
Mod
Or maybe its because mainstream publishers don't find "Jewish" literature as au courant, not 'in the moment', today as 30-40 years ago. ."
Hard to tell on the Holocaust books, Mel. Although some members ask not to read it, it can seem necessary to nudge towards other genres lest it take over all. The appetite for the wider category of WWII lit has been remarked on in the press, so likely true there's a lot, as you say. ...I remember one writer (not on one of our discussions) who became enraged at another one who, the 1st one claimed, achieved bestseller status by writing Holocaust literature, but if that were the ticket, there would be A LOT of bestsellers.
On Jewish lit in general, Stuart Rojstaczer, author of The Mathematician's Shiva, wrote a blog post opining that the public is wanting to hear from other cultures now. That could be a variant of your comment.
The Jewish Review of Books wrote a couple years ago that the center of gravity of American Jewish lit is shifting toward Israel. Do you think that's the case?
Whatever; I say write it, and they will come.
Mod
Carolyn Geduld's The Struggle
Peter Clenott's The Unwanted
Peter, I see five of your other books but doesn't appear Goodreads has your latest yet
Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis: Women Writers Respond to the Call, including an essay by Esther Erman, and
What They Didn't Burn: Uncovering My Father's Holocaust Secrets by Mel Laytner
Best of luck with your books to all of you!
Peter and Jan. Interesting discussion.I am relatively new as a writer – 2 books in 10 years. I call it an expensive hobby. Marketing is such a drag for me as I know it is for many others. Yet, it must be done.
Yes, it’s a good idea to know your motive in writing. For me, having fame and fortune as a goal invites everlasting disappointment and failure. My aim is to ‘make a difference’. What fires me is, unearthing stories about ‘the underdog’ and highlighting how they overcame adversity. Challenging stereotypes is also a favourite focus. If my work ever reaches ‘best seller’ status, that’s icing on the cake.
It's heartening to know books (and movies) about the Holocaust are in demand. A Jewish friend (now deceased) was passionate in educating Australian children about the Holocaust. She said that every generation needs to hear the stories. So true.
I agree with the icing on the cake. I just don't want 49 years of writing to be tossed in the trash when I'm gone.
My parents were Holocaust survivors from Poland -- each the sole survivor of their family of origin. I was born in Germany soon after the war. My parents met and married in a DP camp there. I have written a family story -- published in 2003. I'm planning to update the story as my next book. For instance, in 2012, my mother's village in Poland got in touch with me (on the basis of my book) to find out what happened to the Jews from that village. I write about that -- but I also choose to write about other topics. I have written a sequel to Walter Scott's IVANHOE (1820). My book REBECCA OF SALERNO: A NOVEL OF ROGUE CRUSADERS, A JEWISH FEMALE PHYSICIAN, AND A MURDER will be released Aug. 2.
Mod
Goodreads is not Amazon. Amazon, like Google, can find almost anything. But if your title sounds something like other titles, yours will not come up easily, assuming you're not Stephen King. For a couple of our July authors, I had to put in the author's name 1st before I could find your titles. (And, don't neglect to have your book known by Goodreads. I have no idea how you do that, but you authors know, right?)
Just a little thing you can do to avoid putting stumbling blocks in front of the interested reader. 🤗
Thanks, Jan. My book is on Goodreads with a number of reviews based on advance copies (ARCs). My name is Esther Erman, and information about my upcoming book and more is available at my website, EstherErman.com. I'd love to make an announcement on this loop when the book is released.
Mod
Just saying that if you put in your title from the drop-down option above, readers can click over to your book & those reviews!
Mod
On my previous advice for authors to let the angel whisper into their ear instead of the devil, perhaps the more Jewish version would be the advice to carry a note in one pocket that you are just a tiny speck lost in the reaches of space, and one in the other pocket that you are the most important thing in the world and everything depends on you. Or something like that.
Then I started thinking about those two songs, one being "You Are a Child of the Universe," and the other "You are a FLUKE of the universe." Ha!
The latter is the message with which people try to imbue their perceived enemies.
I'd say we have to give more weight to the "child" side -- the side that says we're significant. Leap of faith (trust)
Jan
Thanks so much! Here is the Goodreads link to my book being released Aug. 2. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
EstherErman.com
Mod
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
EstherErman.com"
That's the ticket, Esther. Wow -- lots of good reviews!
Thanks so much! Of course I'm hoping to get lots of good press for my book -- but also for Walter Scott and his accomplishment in creating the character of Rebecca in his wonderful IVANHOE, in 1820. Lots of fascinating history around that too -- to be continued...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...This is the link to my Goodreads page for the novel THE UNWANTED. It just went up today thanks to a Goodreads expert. I couldn't figure out how to add the info to my author page.
Mod
This is the link to my Goodreads page for the novel THE UNWANTED. It just went up today thanks to a Goodreads expert. I couldn't figure ou..."
👍
Hello Jewish Book Club Members - Do you live in New Zealand or Australia???I'm thrilled to announce that my latest work, The Assignment, is also being published in Australia.
I've been invited to speak and would love to connect with members of this group. Locations for my events: Auckland, Wellington, Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane. I'll be speaking for various organizations and schools. It would be an honor to meet up with you! (I'll be in NZ toward the end of August and Australia for most of September.) Please message me.
Mod
I'm thrilled to announce that my latest work, The Assignment, is also being published in Australia.
I've been invited t..."
Hi Liza,
How exciting for you.!! You must be thrilled to pieces.
I have some close friends in New Zealand who would love this.
I will text them location and info.
I do know one of my NZ friends read your book as she recommended it to me months ago. NZ 's Jewish communities where I was were so warm and engaging. I want to go back!! And yes Australia too. :)
Stacey B wrote: "Liza wrote: "Hello Jewish Book Club Members - Do you live in New Zealand or Australia???I'm thrilled to announce that my latest work, The Assignment, is also being published in Australia.
I've b..."
Thank you so much, Stacey. I had to read the invitation several times in order for it to sink in. I'm still pinching myself. It would be amazing to be able to connect with people, so please don't hesitate to reach out to the people you know to see if they might be interested or are in any of the places I will be. Truly honored that your NZ friend had recommended it! I love how our Jewish community makes the world so much smaller. :)
Mod
Liza, congratulations on the upcoming publication of your book in Australia.
I noticed you invited people to message you, but Goodreads' new default is to allow private messages from Goodreads friends only. Authors are even a stricter case since no option is included except for Goodreads friends.
Those of us who are not authors can change our settings to allow messages from "everybody," then click "save" at the bottom of the page to lock in the change. But I'm not sure if or how authors can change their setting. I did go to your page and don't see a way to private message you. Just so you'll know if no one reaches out that way!
Jan
I hope this is the right place to post that a blog I wrote went live today. It is about how my husband and I met -- an upbeat story! Here the link! https://jewishwritingproject.com/2022...
Mod
https://jewishwritingproject.com/2022......"
It is the right place, Esther. That's why it says work instead of books! :)
Looking forward to checking it out.
At last! Announcing the release of my novel Rebecca of Salerno: A Novel of Rogue Crusaders, a Jewish Female Physician, and a Murder -- today! It's available for order at indie bookstores and on the usual online sources. My novel takes the heroine Rebecca from Walter Scott's 1820 novel Ivanhoe and gives her her own story afterward. It's not necessary to read Ivanhoe first. Here's the Goodreads link for some reviews: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
Hello everyone,I've recently begun producing audibooks of my books, and I've decided to upload one of them to Youtube so everyone can listen to it for free.
The story is called The Unlucky Woman and it's part of my Adam Lapid historical mysteries that are set in Israel in the 1940s and '50s.
Here is the link to the free audiobook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oYMS...
Here is the Goodreads page of the Adam Lapid series.
Mod
The story is called The Unlucky Woman and it's part of my Adam Lapid historical mysteries that are set in Israel in the 1940s and '50s.
Here is the link to the free audiobook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oYMS...."
Thank you, Jonathan. You'll have some excited fans!
P.S. You may want to post this offer again on the "Freebies" thread. Could double the number of views!
Mod
Crankshaft, Aug. 14, 2022, by Tom Batiuk
I am embarrassed to be announcing my latest book, The Choice: A Novel of Love, Faith and The Talmud, over three months since its pub date. Here's a short summary, but you can learn more at the Goodreads site and the book's website (line below).https://thechoicenovel.com is a wholly transformative work that takes characters inspired by Chaim Potok and ages them into young adults in Brooklyn in the 1950s. When journalist Hannah Eisin interviews Rabbi Nathan Mandel, a controversial Talmud professor, she persuades him to teach her the mysteries of the text forbidden to women. Secret meetings and lively debates on what Talmud teaches about women’s disadvantages and inequality bring the two to the edge of a line neither dares to cross, testing their relationships with Judaism and each other.
Here's what Letty Cottin Pogrebin, author of twelve books including Deborah, Golda, and Me: Being Female and Jewish in America and Shanda: A Memoir of Shame and Secrecy has to say about it. "The Choice is about the choices Jews make and the rules we break for reasons of conscience, consideration, logic, and love. Buy this book for the endearing romance at its core and get a feminist brief for women's inclusion in sacred space and communal life, plus twenty brilliant Talmud lessons for free. A surfeit of riches."
Readers who prefer e-books can get a discounted copy at https://payhip.com/b/XBOmh
I am pleased to share that I presented a paper at the Conference on Understanding the Holocaust, Genocide, and Mass Violence in the Public Imagination at the Metropolitan State University of Denver on September 22, 2022. The paper is titled "Why Didn't They Leave? Understanding the Challenges for Jews Fleeing Nazi Germany." Using examples from my book about the Heppenheimer family ("Broken Promises: The Story of a Jewish Family in Germany"), the paper discusses both the challenges in leaving Germany following the Nazi's rise to power in 1933 and the challenges in finding a place to emigrate. You can read the paper on my website bonniesuchman.com.
Looking forward to reading your paper! I come from a family who didn't leave Poland in time. Lots to think about and learn about!
Mod
Congrats to you Bonnie. Im very interested in reading what you presented.
Per Esther, what you write is of always and will be of deep concern.
Although now decades later, future generations must understand
the why's and the red flags.
Happy New Year to you both- May you have only smiles on your faces this coming year!!!
Hello! My second novel, Dreams Under Glass, just released last week. It features Jewish characters from different walks of life during the economic crisis of 2008. Binnie Greenson, the protagonist, is a self-sabotaging diorama artist working a day job she hates, in the same building where the Bernie Madoff scandal explodes. Nancy Jooyoun Kim, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Story of Mina Lee, offers this praise: "A darkly delicious exploration of modern entrapment, Dreams Under Glass is both a coming-of-age novel and a horror story about gluttony, greed, and art. Szilagyi binds the spell with confectionary precision and a collector's sense of wonder and ceaseless want. This book rattles with its refraction of a world in which telling the truth might be the most difficult art."
I hope you'll consider reading Dreams Under Glass!
Thanks so much.
Mod
Congrats on your second novel.
Wishing you much success and a Happy New Year!
Thank you, Stacey! Shana Tova!Stacey B wrote: "Hi Anca,
Congrats on your second novel.
Wishing you much success and a Happy New Year!"
My first novel 'Tom Fleck' was written a few years ago. Even though it is set in northern England in 1513, when Jews were unwelcome and extremely rare, we find Rachel Coronel in its pages. She and her father are refugees from Portugal. On their journey north from London they encounter a humble farm labourer on the run from harsh lords. Rachel becomes the core of Tom's life.A sequel to their story, 'The Black Caravel' takes us 23 years into their futures. I hope, sometime, their saga will become a trilogy.
Today, I'm mostly writing memoir of my time in the mercantile marine in the 50/60s - writing is such a delight as one ages and reflects on former times.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Mod
Thanks for letting us know about your book, Harry. Looks like it's had some great reviews. Wonderful that your energies could pour into writing!
Hi all! I'm very excited to tell you about my debut novel, A NEST OF SNAKES, which is loosely based on real events in which middle-aged men launched lawsuits alleging abuse at the elite boarding schools they attended as boys. The story is timely: just yesterday world media announced the Prince William and Kate removed Prince George and Princess Charlotte from their prestigious private school ahead of a sexual abuse scandal. The book touches on anti-Semitism and childhood trauma and is linked here: A Nest of Snakes. There are many overlapping themes with my first book, a true crime and Holocaust narrative called THE CRATE, about a gruesome murder that involved my family of Holocaust survivors. It's here: The Crate: A Story Of War, A Murder, And Justice. I hope you read both!! I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Mod
Hi!!!
So happy to see you wrote another book. Congrats, and wishing you much success. Has it been released yet?
HiMy newest book, Britain's Jews: Confidence, Maturity, Anxiety has just been published in the UK (though not till February in the USA).
In it I meet with dozens of people to get a picture of what it is like to be Jewish in Britain, a member of the longest established minority group in the country and indeed one of the oldest and most secure Jewish communities in the world.
I hope you will find it interesting!
Mod
My newest book, Britain's Jews: Confidence, Maturity, Anxiety has just been published in the UK (though not till February in the USA).
In it I meet with dozens of people to ge..."
Thanks for letting us know, Harry.
I'm sure I have many misconceptions. Glad to hear about the security aspect!!!
The eBook of my anthology ‘Wandering About’ is free to download on Amazon, 15th to 20th November. Please help yourself. This from a review of last year:
Here is a poet with working-class origins who writes of his native North-East England as well as further-flung places with love and deeply-felt knowledge. Vignettes of ship riveters, soldiers, fishermen’s wives and ‘handy-women’ vie with tales of saints, Saxons, Celts and ancient man. There are terrifying and poignant sea stories. Many of the poems are clearly rooted in the poet’s own family history and personal memories. Flora and fauna inhabit the book in living detail, and several poems travel through layer on layer of geological time, with ecology a clear concern. These are themes of the hands as well as the brain, with an invigorating effect.
By Dafydd - from his review of Harry Nicholson's ‘Wandering About’ in the arts magazine, ‘Urthona’.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00RXM3UFU
and Amazon elsewhere.
Mel LaytnerRobert Clary and my father were alumni of the same Nazi concentration camps.
Clary--Cpl. Louis Le Beau of Hogan's Heroes fame -- died Wednesday. He was 96.
I had phoned Clary on Jan. 3, 2020, for permission to use quotes from his book in my memoir (WHAT THEY DIDN’T BURN)
(The following is from my contemporaneous notes of our chat)
[As I started to explain my need, he cut me off: ]"OK. You have my permission." [I explained I really needed the permission in writing.]
--
"...I give you permission.” (In writing?) “I am 94 years old and I don’t have time for this. You said you wanted to use it, you have my permission to use it." (I then asked if I could send him the quotes I wanted to use in an email)
“I don’t have email. I’m old fashioned. I don’t have time for this nonsense. You wanted permission, you have it.”
My notes say, "Interview lasted less than five minutes. He was grouchy, no patience, wasn’t interested in what I was doing. I thanked him for his book, praised it for its detail. He said thank you and we basically hung up. "
---
I still needed formal permission. So I copied all the sections I might quote into a Word document and Priority Mailed him two copies on Jan. 5 with a self-address stamped return envelope. I got it back, signed and dated Jan. 14, 2020.
Mod
Robert Clary and my father were alumni of the same Nazi concentration camps. Clary--Cpl. Louis Le Beau of Hogan's Heroes fame -- died Wednesday. He was 96.
I had phon..."
Interesting transaction, Mell.
There has been a lot of press on Robert Clary's death and on the show, including this article by Rabbi Jeff Salkin, who used to be at my temple: https://religionnews.com/2022/11/17/h...
Incidentally, in panning The Tattooist of Auschwitz I used a picture from the show.
Mod
Jan—Thank you for posting Salkin’s comments. Mel Brooks would agree with him, heartily I suspect. (Think Springtime for Hitler, in Germany). Where I have an issue is with Salkin’s conclusions. (To wit: “Now I know why Klemperer, Banner, Askin, Clary, and Cohen were so eager to appear in ‘Hogan’s Heroes.’ They were fighting back in a traditional Jewish style — making Nazis absurd.”)I wonder…were these talented actors typecast by their European accents, limited in the roles for which they could audition? They may have been veteran journeyman actors, but none was any sort of “star”. Getting a crack at a TV sitcom must have seemed like winning the lottery.
From the few interviews I’ve read/viewed, none had any second thoughts of accepting the roles. Nor did they, unlike Mel Brooks, publicly say it was anything other than a juicy part.
In a 1992 interview (on YouTube) with Werner Klemperer, the interviewer asks Klemperer about his childhood in Germany and coming to America. Klemperer just says he father received this offer to come to America—no mention of leaving Germany after Hitler came to power, nothing. Nor does he mention the irony of a Jew playing a Kommandant of a POW camp. Nor does the interviewer ask, which is a shanda IMHO.
John Banner defended playing Sgt. Schultz (in a 1967 TV Guide interview, quoted in Wikipedia), saying Schultz “was not a Nazi. I see Schultz as some kind of goodness in any generation.”
Robert Clary, in his book and later interviews, was more willing to broach the issue. Like Klemperer, his career was OK, but Hogan’s Heroes changed the trajectory of his life.
That so many actors in Hogan’s Heroes were Jewish refugees from Hitler is ironic. Did they reflect on this irony in their private moments? One would think, How could they not? While it may be morally satisfying to think these actors were “eager” to play their parts as a way of giving the finger to Hitler, I’m not so sure. I think it more likely that as actors going from gig to gig, a steady paycheck, not moral payback, was the prime motivation.
Mod
The '92 interview in which Klemperer was never asked about the circumstances under which his father left Germany or the irony of a Jew playing the Kommandant reminds me of something I read about the fin de siècle or maybe it was the Wiemar period--that successes achieved after emancipation were in spite of being a Jew, not because of it. I think it's often been the same here. One's Jewishness is not to be mentioned.
Happy to send review ebooks on my kids' or adults' guides to Jewish Scifi and Fantasy. https://www.amazon.com/Encountering-J... https://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Je... Just email valerie @ calithwain.com I'm editing an academic series too and am happy to publish your books within this topic: https://rowman.com/Action/SERIES/_/LE...
I believe members of this group will enjoy my novel, Father, Son, Stone, which is now available as a free Kindle download through Tuesday, November 29. This timely story blends history and mystery to reveal the secret of the most controversial religious site in Jerusalem — known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. The genre is historical fiction, with the plot inspired by historical events. Immediately after the Six-Day War in 1967, after the Israelis captured the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, to the dismay of many, returned the administration of the Temple Mount to the Muslim Authority. In the latter part of the 20th century, the Muslim authorities conducted construction activities under the Temple Mount to enlarge al-Aqsa Mosque, which many believe endangers the structural integrity of the area, including the Western Wall.
In my story, the Western Wall collapses from the Muslim Authority’s excavation under the Temple Mount, and Justice Meir Bar-Aben of the Supreme Court of Israel presides over a secret hearing, initiated by the Israeli Prime Minister, to take back control of the Temple Mount from the Muslim Authority. What is revealed during the hearing changes Jerusalem, and the people who live there, forever.
The story spans many centuries, focusing on the history of the Temple and the Temple Mount. A major portion involves the period of the 7th century CE during the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem, and the construction of al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount.
Click the link below to download Father, Son, Stone, free from now through November 29, and it is always free to Kindle Unlimited members.
Allan H. Goodman
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...
Mod
Thanks, Valerie. Am I understanding you correctly that you're wanting to send advanced reader copies (e-version), or something like that, to those interested?
Mod
Thanks, Allan; you might want to post this under Freebies, giveaways, discounts as well!
Jewish Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
My Family and “Them Languages”: A multilingual life (other topics)My Family and “Them Languages”: A multilingual life (other topics)
His Broken Smile: The Only thing your child needs is You (other topics)
Gold And Ruby: A short Story (other topics)
The Torah Road Trip: Abraham Rides Shotgun (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Isaiah Margulies (other topics)Wallace Markfield (other topics)
Wallace Markfield (other topics)
Allan H. Goodman (other topics)
Raven West (other topics)
More...
Carolyn -- Dunno if that's true. On these boards, many members specifically request selected books NOT be about the Holocaust. And I get it: So many Holocaust-themed books being pumped out (including my own, What They Didn't Burn ), the volume alone eclipses worthy 'Jewish' books of other genres.
Or maybe its because mainstream publishers don't find "Jewish" literature as au courant, not 'in the moment', today as 30-40 years ago.