Foreskin's Lament: A Memoir

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Overview

A New York Times Notable Book, and a “chaotic, laugh riot”(San Francisco Chronicle) of a memoir— first time in trade paperback.

Shalom Auslander was raised with a terrified respect for God. Even as he grew up and was estranged from his community, his religion and its traditions, he could not find the path to a life where he didn't struggle daily with the fear of God's formidable wrath. Foreskin's Lament reveals Auslander's “painfully, cripplingly, incurably, miserably religious” youth in a strict, socially isolated Orthodox community, and recounts his rebellion and efforts to make a new life apart from it. His combination of unrelenting humor and anger ...

See more details below

Overview

A New York Times Notable Book, and a “chaotic, laugh riot”(San Francisco Chronicle) of a memoir— first time in trade paperback.

Shalom Auslander was raised with a terrified respect for God. Even as he grew up and was estranged from his community, his religion and its traditions, he could not find the path to a life where he didn't struggle daily with the fear of God's formidable wrath. Foreskin's Lament reveals Auslander's “painfully, cripplingly, incurably, miserably religious” youth in a strict, socially isolated Orthodox community, and recounts his rebellion and efforts to make a new life apart from it. His combination of unrelenting humor and anger renders a rich and fascinating portrait of a man grappling with his faith and family.

Editorial Reviews

Benjamin Anastas
Auslander, a contributor to "This American Life" and the author of a book of stories called Beware of God (2005), grew up in a strict Orthodox community about 30 miles north of Manhattan…and his funny, fierce and subversively heartfelt book is a record of his coming-of-age in captivity and an ode to "the evil inclination" that would set him free from bondage, but not entirely…Writing with humor and bitter irony about the most personal subjects, with deep, real-world consequences, is no task for an acolyte, although many have tried. With his middle finger pointed at the heavens and a hand held over his heart, Auslander gives us Foreskin's Lament. Mazel tov to him. And God? Well, he'll survive.
—The New York Times
From The Critics

Auslander, a magazine writer, describes his Orthodox Jewish upbringing as "theological abuse" in this sardonic, twitchy memoir that waits for the other shoe to drop from on high. The title refers to his agitation over whether to circumcise his soon to be born son, yet another Jewish ritual stirring confusion and fear in his soul. Flitting haphazardly between expectant-father neuroses in Woodstock, N.Y., and childhood neuroses in Monsey, N.Y., Auslander labors mightily to channel Philip Roth with cutting, comically anxious spiels lamenting his claustrophobic house, off-kilter family and the temptations of all things nonkosher, from shiksas to Slim Jims. The irony of his name, Shalom (Hebrew for "peace"), isn't lost on him, a tormented soul gripped with dread, fending off an alcoholic, abusive father while imagining his heavenly one as a menacing, mocking, inescapable presence. Fond of tormenting himself with worst-case scenarios, he concludes, "That would be so God." Like Roth's Portnoy, he commits minor acts of rebellion and awaits his punishment with youthful literal-mindedness. But this memoir is too wonky to engage the reader's sympathy or cut free Auslander's persona from the swath of stereotype-and he can't sublimate his rage into the cultural mischief that brightens Roth's oeuvre. That said, a surprisingly poignant ending awaits readers. (Oct.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information
The Barnes & Noble Review
I told Dr. Hirsch that I had been thinking about suicide. -- Not about committing it, I said. -- Just about its theological implications. This passage from near the close of Shalom Auslander's grimly funny Foreskin's Lament captures the attitude and obsession that define this unusual memoir. It's less a coming-of-age story than the account of one man's struggle with an elusive, powerful adversary -- who just happens to be the One True God. The product of a strictly observant Orthodox Jewish upbringing, Auslander chronicles a childhood marked by the dread of a deity straight out of Thomas Hardy -- capricious, enigmatic, and amused by the human struggle to make sense of Him. As a boy the author discovers that his best defense against this adversary is to mine a layer of black humor deep enough to hide from even an all-seeing presence. ("Good one, God," is a refrain.)

But it's not Auslander's strategy to hide; rather, this often self-lacerating book holds nearly nothing back. The unvarnished mess of the author's family life -- from his mother's commitment to local respectability, to his rebellious brother's archetypal battle with a drink-tormented father, to his own growing obsessions with shoplifting and transgressive sex -- is brought forward in mesmerizing focus. Even more vivid are the scenes with the irascible characters responsible for the author's religious education -- which he unforgettably characterizes as "theological abuse." Infused with a unyielding rage (and sometimes nearly capsized by it) the story of how Auslander abandons their world for a loving one of his own choosing is also the tale of how he's never quite left it behind.
--Bill Tipper

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781594489556
  • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
  • Publication date: 10/4/2007
  • Pages: 320
  • Product dimensions: 5.46 (w) x 8.30 (h) x 1.13 (d)

Meet the Author

Shalom Auslander
Shalom Auslander

Shalom Auslander was raised in Monsey, New York. Nominated for the Koret Award for writers under thirty-five, he has written for The New Yorker, Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, and is a regular contributor to NPR's This American Life. His short story collection, Beware of God, was published in 2005. He lives in New York.

Customer Reviews
Average Rating 3.5
( 15 )

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 16, 2008

    A reviewer

    They are obviously going to disagree with Auslander, who has created a stunning and, at times, hilarious memoir. Everything he writes about, and I say this coming from a similar background and having gone to the same yeshiva high school he went to for a year, rings true. And his use of biblical characters to illustrate parallels to his own experience is masterful. I studied Talmud and all that for a long period of time as well, but I checked on a few things after reading this book and saw that this guy knows his stuff. No one should skip this one, as it is an important depiction of the scars a forced religious education can leave for life. If religion floats your boat, fine. What Auslander seems to suggest, and what I wholeheartedly agree with, is just don't impress it on those who don't ask for it and certainly don't scare them into it. Oh, one final note to the reviewer before me with the one-star rating. If one has strong feelings against Judaism, as I do, it does not mean he/she is a self-hating Jew and hates all Jews. I still get along with many Jewish friends. Shocking, I know. In 2008.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 22, 2009

    inside view of child's orthodox upbringing

    funny, sad, bewildering view of life growing up in an orthodox Jewish community and his struggle in leaving it.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 8, 2007

    Interesting But Painful

    Austlander's story is painful. It reminded me of the story of the Biblical prophet Jonah who tried tp flee from God, but could not. Jonah was cought in the sea by a fish. Austlander is cought between the void and thoughts of emptiness, which dwells in an atheistic universe and permissive society and the horror of the existence of an angry God who controls the world absolutly and is angry at him. Unfurtunatly, situations like these are created by a lack of transmittal of authentic religion, distortion of the concept of God, divinity, and judaism by parents, teachers and the society at large. Perhaps, one day, like Jonah, Mr. Auslander will rediscover what God's intentions really are, and undo his feelings toward religion.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 11, 2007

    UGH!!!!

    If you like self-hating Jews, you will love this book, from its cheap-shock title on. Those who compare Auslander to a Sedaris or other great memoirists are off the mark. Sedaris has some love and respect for his subject matter. While Auslander is occasionally funny, his bitterness casts a shadow over his work.

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted November 19, 2010

    Shalom Auslander is the Jewish David Sedaris

    I love Shalom's humor and point of view on things. I could see why orthadox jews might be hurt, upset or disappointed with Auslander's take on the religion, but this goy loves it! I grew up in a fundamentalist christian household. Today I am decidedly NOT christian identified - so I TOTALLY get where he's coming from.

    Despite anger and frustration with his religious roots Auslander writes with warmth and humor about his past. I'm sure that any local rabbi will disagree with me, but as far as i'm concerned Auslander is good for the jews.

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