This is the Forward’s coverage of books and literature, including both non-fictional and fictional works.
Books
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Books In new book, former AG Bill Barr praises Jared Kushner’s knack for navigating Trump chaos
Jared Kushner, former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, said early in the 2020 presidential race that Trump’s erratic and contentious behavior would lead to defeat, former Attorney General Bill Barr writes in his memoir, to be released Tuesday. “As they say, there is only one man who can beat Donald Trump and his…
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Books What happens when a New York kvetcher meets modern-day kitsch?
It is hard to imagine Rabbi Akiva eating lime Jell-O, Maimonides living in a trailer park, or Martin Buber twirling a baton. These are all, according to the famous mid-century comedian Lenny Bruce, quintessentially goyish activities. I.B. Singer is more likely to have slathered his cream cheese on pumpernickel than white bread. Bruce defined Jewishness…
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Books A Hasidic village in New York is paving the way for a ‘white, Christian, conservative’ America
Years ago, friends of mine visited the Satmar village of Kiryas Joel, established in 1977 in upstate New York. “It was amazing,” one of them said of the streets and shops filled with men and women in traditional black clothing. “Literally everyone was Hasidic. It was like visiting Eastern Europe a century ago.” Actually, I…
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Books Hear classic Yiddish writers read their works, accompanied by translations
An audio recording of 12 Yiddish writers reading their works, accompanied by English translations, is now available. The recording can be ordered either as a digital download or as two CDs (or both), and comes with a book that includes the readings in Yiddish and in English, as well as a biography of each writer…
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Books Her Bronx Jewish characters ‘hate history’ — and are finally back on bookshelves
Around two years ago, Johanna Kaplan learned, out of the blue, that HarperCollins was interested in reissuing a short story collection she had originally published all the way back in 1975. “It’s a marvelous, marvelous, amazing thing to be happening to me at this age,” said Kaplan, 79. When the collection debuted, under the title…
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Books No, Anne Frank’s diary would not be an adequate replacement for ‘Maus’ in Tennessee schools
It would seem counterintuitive that a graphic novel featuring mice and cats as Jews and Nazis would be a more effective Holocaust teaching tool than the diary of a young girl who died in Bergen-Belsen. Yet, after a Tennessee school district unanimously voted to ban Art Spiegelman’s “Maus” from its eighth grade curriculum due to…
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Books Think the goblins in Harry Potter are antisemitic? Try the rest of British literature
British literature is so full of antisemitic tropes that the goblins in Harry Potter are now the most obvious ones
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Books From a Budapest attic to the New York Knicks: A Holocaust survivor’s family journey
For the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, the irony of Dan Grunfeld’s first contract offer to play professional basketball was a bit on-the-nose. It was not just that it came from Germany. The team that wanted him was from Oldenburg — the first state to put the Nazi party in power. Grunfeld’s new book, By…
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Most Popular
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Culture RFK Jr.’s poems to Olivia Nuzzi are peak cringe — so were King Solomon’s
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Culture A shocking true story of Mexico’s Jewish community comes to Netflix
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News As young Jews move away from Israel, Jewish leaders are reluctant to change their approach
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Film & TV For ill and for good, this ‘Wicked’ song has become ubiquitous
In Case You Missed It
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Fast Forward Oct. 7 families’ lawsuit says Bitcoin CEO, whom Trump pardoned, facilitated $1B in payments to Hamas and its allies
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Opinion What does Mamdani’s response to synagogue protests mean for Jews? No one will like the answer.
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Yiddish World New record label boasts young (and female) singers of cantorial music
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Culture Can this LGBTQ+ Jewish organization navigate these turbulent times?
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