1 comments about Last Days in Babylon: The Exile of Iraq's Jews, the Story of My Family.

1. LAST DAYS IN BABYLON: THE EXILE OF IRAQ'S JEWS, THE STORY OF MY FAMILY tells of the author's London upbringing and distance from her Iraqi past. She rejected Iraqi-Jewish culture and her family's heritage - until she had her own child and in 2004 visited Iraq seeking her family history. LAST DAYS IN BABYLON charts her extraordinary journey and discoveries and is a fine choice for any general-interest lending library.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch

4 comments about Hello, America.

1. After reading dozens of Holocaust memoirs, it is nice to see a continuation of how survivors adapted to life thereafter, especially as immigrants in America. There is so little said about how survivors adjusted to their new lives, since most of their stories end at the end of the war. After reading her first two books (which are a must to understand her perspective), I was left wanting to hear what happened next after reading this one. I loved the way she wrote about her mother with humor and her I was surprised at how some people she met in America were so ignorant of her plight and culture. It was very informative.



2. Livia Bitton-Jackson continues the story of her life after Auschwitz in "Hello, America," the third installment of the trilogy she began with the powerful "I Have Lived a Thousand Years." The year is 1951 and the narrator, whom everyone calls Elli, is ecstatic when she and her mother sail into New York Harbor. Elli wonders, "America, will you be my home? Will you embrace me as a daughter yearning to belong, an equal among equals....?" Although she never attended high school, she yearns to go to college and become a teacher. She also eagerly anticipates a long-awaited reunion with her beloved older brother, Bubi, whom she has not seen in four years.
   
   Elli has painful memories of the past. She recalls with an ache in her heart the last glimpse that she had of Papa in the old country when he was taken away by the authorities, never to be seen again. She cannot forget the harrowing years that she and her mother spent in Auschwitz and in the DP camps. However, her troubles do not end in America. Bitton-Jackson recounts the difficulty she has dealing with a frosty female representative of HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, as well as an employer who tries to take advantage of her. On the plus side, Papa's brother, Uncle Abish and his wife, Aunt Lilly, give Elli and her mother a warm American welcome.
   
   Elli is a greenhorn with an uncertain command of English when she first arrives in New York. She even believed the ship's captain who transported her to America when he jokingly told her that she would need a passport to cross the Brooklyn Bridge. To her, America is a puzzling and overwhelming place, and she is particularly appalled by the conspicuous consumption and waste that she sees all around her. Elli doubts that she will ever feel completely comfortable in this extravagant country, but little by little, she begins to relax and adjust to her new surroundings.
   
   In this fast-paced book, Bitton-Jackson tells about her first jobs, the new friends that she makes, and her tentative steps towards romance. "Hello, America" is suitable for young adults, ages twelve and up. Although it is not strictly necessary to read the books of the trilogy in order, it would be helpful to do so in order to get a complete picture of Livia Bitton-Jackson's fascinating journey.



3. This book goes into territory very very few Shoah memoirists have--what the person's experience was like after leaving Europe and arriving in America. I'm glad Mrs. Bitton-Jackson decided to make her memoirs a trilogy, covering all of the important years and events of her adolescence and early years as an adult--the Shoah, the experience of going home after liberation and then beginning the long slow process of leaving home once again, this time of their own choosing, and finally what it was like when she and her mother joined her brother and some other relatives in America. Too many Shoah memoirs never go this far.
   
   Elli has long dreamt about what America would be like, and finds that, while in many ways it really is the land of her dreams and fantasies, it also has a side she never knew existed. She and her mother begin finding out that America is not like Europe, that you can't just leave a basket of groceries unattended on the street while you're in another shop, that you're not supposed to greet anyone on the subway, that it's dangerous to hitch a ride, that they are now expected to keep their tragic pasts to themselves, that people in America throw things away and buy replacements instead of repairing them, and that people just don't want to hear about what they went through or that they were in the camps. The rabbi-director of the school Elli eventually is allowed to teach at has some words with her on one occasion because she told her students the truth about the number on her arm (in age-appropriate language) instead of saying that it was her phone number. She also finds out that relations between the sexes in America are different from Europe's way of doing things, and several times misreads and misinterprets sexual/romantic advances as joking or just a guy trying to be her good friend. It really shocks her to find out how lightly many American young people treat sexual intimacy, and that some American men feel intimidated upon finding out that she's very smart in addition to very attractive, feeling that a blonde can't be both a bombshell and an egghead.
   
   My only small complaint about this book is that it kind of seemed to end without a full sense of closure and resolution, like there could have been another chapter or two to fully wrap up this chapter of Elli's life. And it was a surprise to me that Elli and her mother initially live with her aunt Celia and her husband Martin when they arrive in America; it was never mentioned at all in either of the two previous books that Celia, who appeared briefly in the first book, had survived, or that her husband had survived as well. It seems like a bit of discontinuity there, that something that important, two of their immediate relatives also having survived, should at least have been mentioned in some detail beforehand, so we would have known when they found out these two were still alive, how they found out, and when they got in touch with them again.



4. HELLO AMERICA by Livia Bitton-Jackson is the sequel to I HAVE LIVED A THOUSAND YEARS: GROWING UP IN THE HOLOCAUST. HELLO, AMERICA begins right where I HAVE LIVED A THOUSAND YEARS left off...with her and her mother standing on the ship seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time. The book shares her experiences (good and bad) of her new life in America. Of course, she is surrounded by an unfamiliar and seemingly strange culture and language. As she learns English (and the culture), she begins to feel more and more at home in America although life is not always easy. She finds that most Americans just are not interested in hearing about the Holocaust or recognizing her pain and anguish. In fact, some Jewish-Americans seem not to care about the experiences of those in the holocaust. This is what she finds so unbelievable.
   
   The book shares her experiences working, shopping, dating, and learning the culture--for example, she learns that the streets are not always a safe place--as well as her emotional experiences as she still deals with the aftermath of surving the Holocaust while other family members and friends did not.
   
   Probably the most memorable scene of HELLO, AMERICA is when she is sharing her experiences as a first grade teacher in a Hebrew school. The principal--a rabbi--calls her into his office to discipline her for daring to mention the fact that she was in a concentration camp. She explains that the child saw the number tattooed on her arm and asked where it came from. He tells her that she should have lied and said that the number was her telephone number. She is outraged, offended, and shocked..."In my pain and bitterness I wonder, do all Americans, Jews and Gentiles who were untouched by our tragedy and don't even want to hear about it, feel like him? Do they also prefer to believe that the number tattooed on my arm in Auschwitz is nothing but a harmless New York telephone number? Do they also prefer to place me, and all of us with numbers tattooed on our arms, beyond the pale of their world?" (141).

5 comments about Freud: A Life for Our Time.

1. This book describes Freud`s life with deep insight, and you can review the European history at around late 19th century to the beginning of 20th century through Freud's life. Very well done.



2. Best compendium of Freud's work by far. And with intelligent commentary by Gay. Yes, some of Siggy's turgid prose is hard going but, it is worth the investment in time and effort. Read it with an open mind and you will see how timeless Freud's message is...and Gay does not sink into sycophancy, as many others did.



3. If you have minimal knowledge about the father of psychoanlaysis, or if you hold strong opinions about the "Prof" as his students and colleagues referred to him deferentially and affectionally, this work by Peter Gay will highlight the peaks of Freud's dazzling insights, and provide plenty of background for his all too human failings. Freud is presented as a man struggling with issues of family, career, and the inevitablity of death. Gay is able to condense and summarize key Freudian concepts and place them in the context of the life and cultural time of the father of psychoanalysis. For students of psychology as well as observers of our current cultural and political delusions, Gay neatly captures the details as well as the broad scope of Freud's shadow on the 20th Century and beyond.



4. May 6 was the 150th birth anniversary of Sigmung Freud; he died in London in 1939. His theories have been changed along the way by other psychologists, but they remain the basis for therapy. He believed that past conflicts cause current emotional problems, the trauma of being born was actually at the root of neurotic anxiety, and that childhood experiences are the crucible of character. He delved into the science of recollection and reflection. Some of his beliefs have been tossed aside as so much feminist bunk, but had he still been alive, he would have agreed that history will never end because it is made by human beings.
   
   Someone acting rashly (out of character) is said to be "frontal" referring to the part of the brain involved in impulse control. They react to slurs in a violent manner to protect their self-integrity. One must confront the parts of himself which are painful and shameful and difficult to face. A philosopher at the University of Chicago identifies a "core idea" on which Freud's reputation must rest, that human life is "essentially conflicted." Today, we have brain-imaging technology which can prove or disprove his mind-boggling ideas.
   
   A person of character always is truthful. Dishonesty by omission (withhold the truth) or commission (telling an untruth) is a byproduct of the change system. Don't tell people what they want to know; that is misleading. When you fail to tell the truth, minor issues escalate into major ones. You usually become angry at perceived psychological threats. Someone threatens your self-esteem, your reputation, your peace of mind, or your sense of well-being, and you explode in anger. There are biological reasons for the way we act or react to this threat to our self-preservation. Empathy helps us to contain and expand our own sense of self-esteem. You have to confront the parts of yourself (your mind) that are painful, shameful, and difficult to face.
   
   Eric Kandel wrote a book about the memory for which he won the Nobel Prize. The future of neuroscience leads us to the biology of the mind. This science is called phrenology -- a science of the mind. Why we act and think the way we do. How we interpret danger from slander. Too much sadness become depression, too much gladness becomes mania, too much fear becomes panic, and too much anger becomes rage. Can virtue be taught? In today's society we constantly search for the pursuit of happiness. One thing to question is "What makes a problem moral."
   
   It's too bad Freud isn't around to see how immoral our society has become with deceit and even by the way they dress in public. Many more humans have psychological problems these days than in the '30s, which are going unresolved. His ideas probably would be considered obsolete, but they have been expanded to include behaviorism, humanistic, mythological, cognitive behavioral therapy, even self psychology. With his sometimes wrong ideas, we can pick and choose which field is best for us to overcome our hurts (caused by others, not being born or ignored as children) and understand that we are not alone.



5. Disagree with two of the reviewers below: Gay is not unbearly biased in favor of Freud, book is not too much for casual dabblers in the subject.
   
   First, one could hardly expect a six hundred page biography of Freud to be authored by someone who hates the man. Important to be realistic about who writes books in the first place.
   
   Second, Freud was a prolific writer, and the book doesn't shy away from in depth analysis, so really it's like two three hundred page books. Now, if that's too much Freud for you, you're probably not that interested in the first place.
   
   I like to read biographies of thinkers who left behind copious amount of published work. That way, it's easier to get a sense of what you want to read (if anything) by the author.
   
   Because much of Freud's work revolves around family life, his family life is more then usually interesting. It's impossible to appreciate the originality of Freud's thought without having a firm context for HIS everyday life.
   
   This book provides a balanced reading of Freud's controverial life. I found the bad to be included as much as the good. Freud's influence on the 20th century has been so profound that even if you completely disagree with the man (over, say, his attitude towards women), it is still rewarding to learn about his thought.

No comments about Anne Frank: Internet Referenced (Famous Lives Gift Books).

5 comments about I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors.

1. I received my order in a few days and it was in perfect condition. Very reliable seller.



2. All I can say is that I hated the book. The author was so intent to find out all the sordid details of her parent's life during the Holocaust that she never got to know them for who they were. The book is boring and the drawings are silly and juvenile.



3. this book is both illuminating and moving, I have already lent my copy to two other people. An important new voice on the Holocaust and it's survivors and descendants.



4. I too am a child of Holocaust survivors. I read this book (picked up by surprise in a bookstore) in one several hour reading. It is touching, moving, eloquent, great art, and deeply personal. Life and death, of all sorts. Happiness and sadness, of all sorts. I'm deeply appreciative for the author's letting the world in on her (my) life.
   David



5. The Holocaust occurred over six decades ago, and the survivors of this episode are aging and dying. In fact, calling the Holocaust an "episode" seems to be trivializing one of the darkest periods in human history. I apologize for any such characterization. The Holocaust was a monstrosity, an aberration, a blot on the record of humanity. Millions died.
   
   Yet some lived. And these survivors had a life, children, a home.
   
   This book, I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors, is author Bernice Eisenstein's recollections of growing up in a family that had both mother and father with tattooed arms. Even as a youngster, Eisenstein grappled with the knowledge of her parent's past, the stigma of being defined by this past, and the responsibility of maintaining memories without adding more pain to the world.
   
   I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors is not a first person account of experiences during WWII as you can read in Night, by Elie Wiesel, although some of her parent's stories are recounted. However, Eisenstein's experiences and memories are also real. She hungered to understand what her parents experienced. She cried harder than her parents when she watched films about the Holocaust. The Holocaust has shaped members of a succeeding generation.
   
   She exists because of the Holocaust, with her parents finding each other at liberation, and shaping her through their language, actions, and social life.
   
   The book has illustrations throughout... haunting depictions not of life in concentration camps, but how a child (and later a young woman) came to view her heritage.
   
   We all come from some place. Eisenstein comes from a place darker than we should ever have to see. I hope this book is picked as one to discuss in high schools and colleges.
   
   Never forget.

2 comments about Diary of Anne Frank.

1. When I first read the story about Anne Frank, I was in 8th grade where every english teacher in my school had chosen to read this story to all of there students. I had no idea of what the story was going to be about and also had no idea who Anne Frank was. But after reading about her life, I had saw how hard it must have been for her.

   This year in school we had to choose a book to read and do a book report on it. I had chosen to do Anne Frank because I had already read a little about her but I had wanted to learn more information about her and life for Jewish people during WW2. By reading both of this book it had shown me how hard it was for Jewish people of all ages. They where taken out of there homes and sent to a concentration camp where most of them later died. It puts the whole world to shame because we all knew about this and nothing was getting done early. But finally we were able to help them and save them.

   It takes a brave little girl like Anne to be able to write everything down in a diary that was happening in her life. And by Mr. Frank giving Anne's book to be published must had taken a lot of courage also. But in many ways we are glad that he did because Anne had showed us in many ways how tough it was to be Jewish and how hard it was to go into hiding. I would recommend this book for people off all ages because it is a wonderful book, and I know everyone will enjoy reading it.




2. Even though I was born during the war and grew up with the remembrance of it I was untouched by its reaality. When, at the age of 14, I first read Anne Frank's diary it was perhaps the most amazing encounter with the horrors perpetuated on millions but seen through the eyes of one person.

   Her little diary gave the world a personal view and meaning to the millions who suffered the same fate. It will continue to be read and lets hope they will be young readers, caught in time to perceive it while their hearts and minds are still impressionable. It simply proves that life is a wonderful mystery. Anne Frank's diary and death were destined to touch the hearts and minds of millions. Her legacy written into history as a trivial, adolescent words scribbled in her little diary to transgress time.

   My own question when reading her diary was "who was Hitler?" which brought tears to my mother's eyes. She said, I was told that someday your children will ask ! that question. One great and powerful forgotten, another, a little sparrow, remembered by millions.

5 comments about Burnt Bread and Chutney: Growing Up Between Cultures-A Memoir of an Indian Jewish Girl.

1. I would not recommend this book - it is trite and uninteresting. I did not learning anything new about the jewish indian experience



2. This book was definitely a quick read and very interesting as the other reviewers have stated. The only "issue" I had with this book is that there were a bit too many sensual allusions that seemed were meant to appeal to a trash novel reader. I expected this book to speak of much more "Bene-Israel" traditions but instead it addressed mostly the rebellion of the writer against tradition and not much specifics on the traditions.
   I do give this book 4 stars though since it encaptured me immensely but not 5 stars since I expected it to be more wholesome.



3. I found Carmit Delman's memoir fascinating. Her story was remarkable, how she grew up in the modern world with her family's culture and background several centuries behind. It is very appropriate for mothers of teens, gives you an eye to the struggles they face as they try to reconcile their life with yours.



4. Every author wishes to touch the emotions of their readers, Ms Delman does just that in "Burnt Bread and Chutney." At first, I felt embarrassed that a man is reading something meant for WOMEN! But pages later, I found myself amused and at times angered, wishing I could help some of the players within. I found I actually "could not put this book down" until I found out what happened!
   As ROOTS and GHANDI touched me, so did this book - it too, would make a great movie! (Hey Mr. Spielberg, if you liked The Color Purple, you'll love this!) This book will turn your vision onto a side of life that many are unaware - it will touch your soul....and it will touch your heart.



5. Carmit Delman has truly outdone herself in this wonderful account of her life. The juxtaposition of her life with that of her grandmother, led by quotes from "Nana-bai's" diary was unique and kept me so intrigued that I finished the book in 2 days. I highly recommend this book and can't wait to hear more from Carmit!

5 comments about Eichmann in My Hands.

1. I found this book hard to put down. Malkin gives very good personal & historical background of what it was like to grow up in Israel after most of his family moved there while he was young. I say "most" since some were exterminated in the Holocaust. That background information leads you into how he ended up in the "profession" that eventually put him face to face with the coldest mass murder that mankind has ever known. I look forward to reading other books about Eichmann and about Josef Mengele, and about their final fates.



2. "It is hardly a secret that innumerable German scientists, formerly engaged in research for the Third Reich, played a decisive role in the rocket programs of the United States and the Soviet Union. What remains largely unknown even today is that others, including more than a few rabid and unrepentant Nazi's, were brought into the employ of the Arab states, most notably Nasser's Egypt, to fight Israel. But we knew..."-Peter Malkin's chapter "Spy"
   
   Peter Malkin is the Israeli spy who tackled Adolph Eichmann on a street in Buenos Aires and brought him to Jerusalem to stand trial for masterminding the holocaust, the shoah, along with a handful of other Mossad agents. The term "the final solution" was his. The ideas for the trains, the camps, the ovens were Eichmann's. He is the only person who was executed in Israel by the government. Somehow, he managed to escape detection for 10 years following the Nuremberg trials. This story is about his capture but it is not about his trial; those details are lacking in this book. Peter Malkin like so many other jews and Israelis lost many family members in those war years. A sister stayed behind in Poland with her husband and little children. His family immigrated to palestine when he was a little boy.
   
   Malkin, a real life Gabriel Allon, was a master of disguise. He played pranks on close friends and family members, pretending to be someone else totally fooling them. Thus, his mother's comment after one succesful ruse. I had not expected such humor in this tale. One learns also about life in palestine before 1948 during the British mandate when Malkin joined the outlawed Haganah. One learns about the personalities of both Malkin and Eichmann. As I read this, I couldn't help but feel such sadness for Eichmann; he really is to be pitied. How could anyone imagine such cruel treatments to so many millions of people and then carry them out and have no remorse for it? It is to the Israelis' credit that they did not torture him, harass him, play psychological tricks on him as he had done to others. The Israelis came to bring him to justice and that they simply did. To me it is sad that Eichmann came from an evangelical family; how can a christian do such things? This I, as a professed christian myself, cannot understand. He went to the same high school as Hitler, a catholic. So many details of the shoah, Eichmann's many crimes, are left out, but enough are told to understand why Eichmann was a war criminal and that he did not get away with it. How can people still say that these genocides did not happen? Talk about denial. One might succeed in killing millions of people, but you cannot succeed in removing all the evidence and witnesses to such crimes wherever in the world they occur. And it is impossible to do so in this day and age given the technology we have now. Hallelujah.
   
   I highly recommend that at least the several movies on the Nuremberg trials be seen too. Surely such trials as these are going on right now in the world today under different circumstances of course; these trials were unprecedented and important and are models of how the international community should respond to crimes such as these.



3. In 1960 , a small group of elite Israeli agents secretly went into Argentina to capture the world's most wanted war criminal Adolf Eichmann , and bring him to justice. Their task was to to lead a team to Argentina to capture Eichmann alive, and to take him back to Israel for trial, so that the truth could be exposed to the world and so that the world would know why a Jewish homeland must exist!
   The man who actually snatched Eichmann off the streets was Peter Malkin , a young Israeli who lost his sister and nephew in the holocaust, thanks to the work of Eichmann.
   
   What follows is fascinating account beginning with the story of two men : Malkin , and the monster who he captured , Eichmann.
   I enjoyed reading about Malkin's childhood and youth-he came to Israel, from Poland , when he was four years old.
   Particularly interesting is the brutality of the British , in the 'Palestine' colony , towards the Jews.
   This information makes it particularly sickening to see much of the British establishment, including the British media (epitomized by the hate speech of the likes of Robert Fisk, and the BBC), politicians like George Galloway Ken Livingstone and Tom Dalyell, academics like Tom Paulin and others, leading the international campaign to vilify and harm Israel, while glorifying the terrorists that cruelly murder Jewish men , women and children.
   They are showing the same callousness in regard to Jewish men, women and children being murdered today, as they did during the British Mandate.
   
   The book outlines the exploits of the Israeli agents in Argentina, the capture of Eichmann , and the conversations between Malkin and Eichmann , which reveal the chlling mind of a killer.
   
   The book concludes with a short chapter , asking the question if a holocaust could happen again.
   There are troubling parallels between the systematic vilification of Jews before the Holocaust and the current vilification of the Jewish people and Israel. Suffice it to note the annual flood of anti-Israel resolutions at the UN; or the public opinion polls taken in Europe, which single out Israel as a danger to world peace; or the divestment campaigns being waged in the US against Israel; or the attempts to delegitimize Israel's very existence. The complicity of the Allies in WW II is mirrored by the support the PLO has been receiving from Europe, China and Russia to this very day.
   
   If remembering Auschwitz should teach us anything, it is that we must all support Israel and the Jewish people against the vilification and the complicity we are witnessing, knowing where it inevitably leads.
   
   As with the holocaust, the same kind of Jew-haters will again attempt to appease Arab rage with Jewish blood and land. We must stand up against it. Jews are still dying for only one reason; being a Jew.
   
   
   
   Like a Phoenix out of the ashes of the Shoah (as the holocaust is known in Hebrew) the reborn Jewish State of Israel arose. The great hope of the Jewish Nation - the national anthem of Israel is Hatikvah - the Hope.



4. Malkin's book is nothing short of a masterpiece. His early life's story in and of itself is compelling beyond his accomplishments later on. I really enjoyed his telling of fighting in the hagannah and later in the '48 war against the Arab invasions.
   
   But the capture of Eichmann is the watershed moment in 20th century Jewish history that all should hold up as the defining characteristic of the Jewish people as a whole. We will not be the whipping boys of Europe or the world anymore. We will seek out our enemies wherever they are, regardless of the circumstances, and take them to be held up before justice.
   
   The courage Malkin and his compatriots is the story of us all.



5. Eichmann in My Hands is a powerful book.
   
   The irony of the courage of Mr. Malkin is a direct opposite of the cowardice and evil of Eichmann.
   
   Required reading.

5 comments about The Peddler's Grandson: Growing Up Jewish in Mississippi.

1. If you think you're getting "Driving Miss Daisy", you're mistaken. I thought I was going to read about a Southern Jew inviting his goyish friend over, and the friend would call matzo balls "them big old balls that Jews toss in the soup" or matzos "them big old Jew-crackers" and I was sadly mistaken. This book has no humor.
   This book isn't funny, interesting, educational, or even worth reading. I didn't learn anything new about the Jews of the Delta. All I learned was that Edward Cohen was a typical Jewish baby-boomer growing up in Mississippi, blissfullly ignorant of the lives/habits of his fellow Dixies, white or black.
   The only interesting thing is where the NAACP comes to town, and demands that stores hire more black employees, or face boycotts. The Cohen store (and others) suffer because of this, and eventualy all the stores go out of business. It shows you the dark side of the Civil Rights Movement.
   Some of the greatest literature/film/drama come from the South. But this is no "Southern Gothic" like John Grisham or "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil." It's not a Southers comedy like "Steel Magnolias" of "Fried Green Tomatoes." There's nothign original or plot-driven about this book. It's just plain dull.
   
   You can't tell a Southern story that's "dull."



2. A wonderful tale that had me captivated from the first page. Whether you're Jewish, southern or just an appreciative reader... the descriptive flow of this tale is unparalleled.

   Cohen writes an excellent tale that weaves the stories of his immigrant grandparents into the time of his owning "bringing up" and struggle with his ethnicity, spiritual and regional. The characters are interesting and personal. The descriptions of the region and of the family scenes create clear mental pictures.

   This is a book that I intend to add to my own collection.




3. Interesting insights abound in this wonderful book about growing up Jewish in Mississippi during the 50's and 60's. Mr.Cohen introduces us to his family, friends and surroundings in a way that kept me from putting the book down. I read it in two sittings on a rainy weekend in Rhode Island and I felt like I was on vacation in Mississippi.



4. Exploring the consequences of straddling two cultures, "The Peddler's Grandson" proves that being Jewish in the deep South is a lot more than playing Dixie with a klezmer band. Accurately subtitled "Growing Up Jewish in Mississippi," Edward Cohen's enjoyable and instructive memoir recounts the author's childhood in post World-War II Mississippi and explores the dynamics of being a dual outsider: A Jew in the Bible Belt and a southern Jew in a cosmopolitan Jewish university. Written with perceptive sociological insight and engaging self-deprecatory humor, this memoir sheds light on the profound issue of marginality. As Edward Cohen grows up, he leaves the safe cocoon of his protective Jewish home and discovers the strangely alluring and frightening Christian South.

   The grandson of an intinerant peddler, Cohen explains both the coherence of a Jewish life and the centripetal influences the dominant culture exerts on that identity. Once in the public school system, Cohen feels a need to reinvent himself, from invisible Jew to iconoclastic rebel. Yet, with each recreation, Cohen feels less complete, even more dissatisfied. Where he yearns for a fusion of his dual Southern/Jewish identities, he experiences alienation and distancing from both. Culminating with four experimental years at Miami University, his story both extols and berates the divisive nature of his existence.

   At its best, "The Peddler's Grandson" serves as a model for every immigrant seeking authentic identity in his/her new land. At once desperately seeking inclusion but discovering that the price of admission is cultural abdication, Cohen warns about the notion that one can gain identity by erasing one's past. "From the first day my Jewish self was suddenly full-immersion baptized into that southern world, I wanted to reconcile what couldn't be joined." We watch, with admiration, as Cohen reaches an adult acceptance of who and what he is. "I've learned the difference between discovering who I am and inventing it. Invention for me meant erasure, and whether it was my southern or my Jewish half that I hoped to lose, each time I tried, I got smaller."

   "The Peddler's Grandson" is not pedantic in the least. Delightful family history and marvelous anecdotes pepper this memoir. Cohen's battles with the dyspeptic Rabbi Nussbaum over issues ranging from the existential meaning of life to the Edward's refusal as a child to eat a hard-boiled egg at Passover ring with Jewish humor. With characteristic grace, however, is Cohen's admission that he admires his adversary as a civil rights' leader. The author does not have to mention that Nussbaum's home was bombed by the Ku Klux Klan; yet in so doing, Cohen reminds us of his own profound ambivalence over racism during the late 1950s and early 1960s. One senses that the adult Cohen has not forgiven himself for his acquiescent silence during that crucial decade; indeed, his compassionate recounting of the African-Ameicans who worked in his family's clothes store indicate a sensitivity that began during that formative period.

   Cohen writes with an assurance he lacked as a child. His memoir is warm, comforting, and, in parts, genuinely inspiring. The author's adult confidence derives, however, from that childhood, both Southern and Jewish. His adult confidence in his roots and his place in both worlds blossoms from a family which, although profoundly assimilated, nevertheless recognized its marginality. His Jewish identity, compromised by an alien culture which celebrated physicality instead of intellectualism, emerges secure; his Southern roots, nurtured by three generations of life in Jackson, Mississippi and tarnished by national denigration of the very name of his state, endure. Thus, Edward Cohen, child of a Jewish peddler who settled in a locale far beyond the reaches of Northern urban Jewish influence, represents the best of the Ameican expeience; his cultural dialectic results in the best of all possibilities -- a genuine multiculturalism.




5. Edward Cohen has written an autobiography whose candor, extraordinary insights, and universality allow the reader to delve deeply into questions and issues that demarcate each of our lives to one extent or another. With events of his childhood, adolescence and early adulthood depicted with the sensorial, emotional, and socio/political specificity of a first-rate novel, Mr. Cohen has accomplished a remarkable feat, both as an individual and a writer: He has escaped the solipsism that can easily extinguish a seemingly narrowly prescribed life. His vivid imagination has allowed him to take us on a journey into a world and time filled with intolerance and social upheaval which he, with painstaking honesty, intertwines with self-revelations regarding his own role within this/his/our eternally imperfect world. Like a good bildungsroman, Peddler's Grandson succeeds in enticing the reader to care deeply for the protagonist, whose pratfalls we laugh at, whose loving renderings of people and places we love as our own, and whose ultimate discovery of his road to liberating self-acceptance fills us with hope. A work of great depth and breadth, Peddler's Grandson is an extraordinary tour de force.

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