Fouad Ajami\’s \”Dream Palace of the Arabs\” lacks Benda\’s harshness and polemics, but illustrates how fragile and tenuous are the intellectuals\’ claims on political life.
At the Entrance to the Garden of Eden
by Yossi Klein Halevi
William Morrow
Many independent comic book creators strive for respectability in an art form that has often reeked of lowbrow.
Peter and Joachim Horvitz, the father-and-son team whose recent compendium, \”The Big Book of Jewish Baseball: An Illustrated Encyclopedia and Anecdotal History,\” sets out to prove that there has been a wealth of Jews who have made significant contributions to our national pastime.
Jennifer Weiner began writing \”Good in Bed\” during a bout of Dumper\’s Regret in 1998.\n\nShe\’d been dating her nice-Jewish-writer boyfriend for a few years, but no engagement ring was forthcoming. So she requested a trial separation. \”I went home and proceeded to think about the relationship, and he went home and proceeded to date someone else,\” she says.\n\n
It\’s time to make room for a newer generation of American Jewish writers, many of whom are young women who have not even hit 30.
\”Bad Jews\” is Shapiro\’s critique of what\’s wrong with contemporary Jewish life — and the Philistine is high on his list.
Against the Dying of the Light: A Father\’s Journey through Loss\” by Leonard Fein (Jewish Lights Publishing, $19.95)
Authors Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld remember the exact moment they conceived the idea for their latest book, \”Anne Frank and Me.\”
\nLet\’s say it right up front: The four-hour television miniseries \”Anne Frank\” is the most powerful film on the Holocaust in recent memory, not excepting the fabled \”Schindler\’s List.\”
