PEOPLE OF THE BOOK
JEWISH FICTION
Appelfeld, Aron The Conversion A Jew in pre-World War II Austria converts to Christianity to advantage his career, but cannot escape a pervasive anti-Semitism. Bellow, Saul The Adventures of Augie March Augie March grows up in Depression-era Chicago and refuses to settle down to a life of middle-class security. Chabon, Michael The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay A refugee from Nazi Europe joins his Brooklyn cousin and together they create a comic book hero, “The Escapist.” Fink, Ida The Journey Two Jewish sisters escape the Polish ghetto by posing as Christian peasants, but are always close to discovery. Foer, Jonathan Everything is Illuminated An American Jewish college student travels to Eastern Europe to find the woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Goldberg, Myla Bee Season Nine-year-old Eliza Naumann tries to rescue her disintegrating family by being a success at spelling bees. Goldstein, Rebecca Mazel Chance or mazel has led Sasha Saunders from a rural Polish shtetl to the Yiddish theater of pre-war Warsaw and eventually to a sophisticated life in New York. Goodman, Allegra Paradise Park After getting dumped. Sharon Spiegelman flits about Hawaii seeking enlightenment through a series of men, jobs, and religious experiences. Heller, Joseph Good as Gold A middle aged professor of literature faces ostracism by his family as he is poised to be a Jewish trailblazer by being the frontrunner for secretary of state. Horn, Dara In the Image The grandfather of a high school girl killed in an hit-and-run accident reaches out to her best friend with his collection of slides from his travels exploring Judaism. Kertesz, Imre Kaddish for a Child Not Born At a writers’ retreat, a middle-aged Holocaust survivor explains to his philosopher friend why he cannot bring a child into the world. Kosinski, Jerzy The Painted Bird A dark-haired boy wanders alone through the Eastern European countryside where the peasants abuse him, thinking him to be a Jew or Gypsy. Lester, Julius The Autobiography of God God visits Rebecca Nachman, child of Holocaust survivors and former rabbit, to persuade her to read his autobiography. Levi, Primo The Periodic Table A young Piedmontese Jewish chemist traces his life as a student eager to unlock nature’s secrets to his internment in Auschwitz.
Lustig, Arnost The Unloved To remain a prisoner at the model camp at Theresienstadt rather than a death camp, teenager Perla offers sexual favors to the authorities. Malamud, Bernard The Fixer Altruistic handyman Yakov Bok retains his belief in human freedom although imprisoned for a murder he did not commit. Mirvis, Tova The Ladies Auxiliary The Orthodox community in Memphis is shaken when a newly widowed New York convert joins and introduces modern spiritual ideas. Obejas, Achy Days of Awe Long after her parents fled Castro’s Cuba for Chicago, Alejandra returns to the island where she uncovers her family’s hidden Jewish roots. Oz, Amos Fima A published poet leads a directionless life in modern Jerusalem, having affairs and ranting about Israeli politics. Ozick, Cynthia The Shawl A child is separated from her mother in a death camp and is killed by being thrown against an electrified fence. Pap, Karoly Azarel Young Gyori lives in a tent in the back of a synagogue with his Orthodox grandfather whose death propels him back to his family where he begins to question his faith. Potok, Chaim My Name is Asher Lev An Hasidic young man is torn between his gifts as an artist and his parents’ and community’s disapproval of his art. Roiphe, Anne Lovingkindness A young woman’s decision to enter an Israeli Orthodox yeshiva and to agree to an arranged marriage scandalizes her feminist, assimilated mother. Rosen, Jonathan Joy Comes in the Morning A suicide attempt by an elderly Holocaust survivor brings the hospital chaplain, Rabbi Deborah Green, into close relationship with his family. Roth, Henry Call It Sleep David Schearl, the son of Yiddish-speaking Jewish immigrants, comes to age in the squalid Jewish ghetto of early 20th century New York. Roth, Philip Portnoy’s Complaint Alexander Portnoy confesses to his psychiatrist his sexual obsessions and his relationship to his domineering mother. Singer, Isaac Bashevis The Family Moskat Patriarch Meshulam Moskat and his family live in the Warsaw preceding the events of World War II that would obliterate this milieu. Stollman, Aryeh The Far Euphrates A sixteen-year-old son of a rabbi withdraws to his room for a year in face of the knowledge of the effects of the Holocaust on those in his family circle. Wiesel, Elie The Night Trilogy (848) An Auschwitz survivor relates his loss of faith, involvement in an assassination attempt in Palestine, and coping in a post-Holocaust world. Wallant, Edward The Pawnbroker A Holocaust survivor, who witnessed the murder of his wife and children in a death camp, now is a Harlem pawnbroker, serving as a front for a mobster. Can’t locate a copy on the shelf? Please ask LIBRARY staff to place a hold for you. RS 10/2005
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