Joanna Hershon and Adelle Waldman Grow in Brooklyn
Bridge Over Troubled Writers: Authors Joanna Hershon (left) and Adelle Waldman talk shop. Image by nate lavey
By Adam Langer August 7, 2013
Two of the strongest novels published so far this year, Joanna Hershon’s “A Dual Inheritance” and Adelle Waldman’s “The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.,” happen to be written by young, Brooklyn-based Jewish women writing smartly and wittily from the perspectives of men. This might not be a remarkable fact in and of itself: Look for a smart, witty novelist these days, and 50% of the time you’ll wind up seeing a Brooklyn address. And apart from some crossover in themes and signifiers, the books are markedly different in style and subject matter. “A Dual Inheritance” is a wonderfully and classically constructed old school novel spanning 50 years in the lives of two friends who met while they were undergraduates at Harvard. “Nathaniel P.” is a slimmer work but no less deft or ambitious as it delves into the mind of a sad, young literary cad from (where else?) Brooklyn. Nevertheless, the Forward took the opportunity to bring these two authors together in (where else?) Brooklyn. I met with them by the famed Jane’s Carousel on the waterfront to discuss their thoughts on their inspirations and on writing from the perspectives of men (Jewish and otherwise).
— Adam Langer
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Dive In
-
Books The White House Seder started in a Pennsylvania basement. Its legacy lives on.
-
Film & TV In this Jewish family, everybody needs therapy — especially the therapists themselves
-
Books So much to say about Israeli violence, so little to say about violence against Jews
-
Books Why Jews were like everyone else — only more so — during slavery and the Civil War
Most Popular
- 1
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 2
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 3
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 4
Culture How two Jewish names — Kohen and Mira — are dividing red and blue states
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Rabbi who left Harvard calls Trump threat ‘reasonable’ — but warns of looming consequences
-
Fast Forward Secretive GOP firm distorts Democratic candidate’s views on Israel in NJ governor race
-
Fast Forward Trump administration to review nearly $9 billion in Harvard funding over campus antisemitism
-
Yiddish World Yiddish fans in Berlin launch a Yiddish open mic series
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.