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Scoring weed for your uncle...Hanging out with porn stars on Christmas Eve...Eating nachos with the Mossad...Observing the Dyke Days of Awe...Getting held up at a Weight Watcher's meeting...Spying on your naked Hebrew School teacher.
From Heeb magazine—the definitive voice of a proud, searching, and irreverent new generation of American Jews—this first-of-a-kind fast and fun showcase spotlights the hilarious and heartful raconteurial gifts of many of today's leading writers, comedians, actors, artists, and musicians. Laura Silverman, Michael Showalter, Andy Borowitz, Joel Stein, Ben Greenman, Darrin Strauss, and others navigate sex, drugs, work, youth, family, and, on the lighter side, body and soul. You'll never bleach your arm hair again.
While I was excited to review Sex, Drugs & Gefilte Fish, I was a bit worried that I wouldn't fully appreciate the humor or the nuances of the writing. I found the book thoroughly entertaining, even though I'm not Jewish. The book is divided into six parts: Sex, Drugs, Work, Youth, Family, and Body & Soul. Each part has from six to twelve short stories, each by a different author. The stories of young love, awkward encounters, and self-discovery are sometimes touching, often hilarious, and fun.
The stories aren't connected, so you can start with any story. You'll likely not be able to stop at one. I would read at least three or four at a sitting. No doubt the stories would be even more enjoyable to someone fully familiar with the culture and religion.
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (October 26, 2009), 288 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Anonymous
Posted December 9, 2009
I loved this collection of funny, loving and original essays that zeroe in on some of what it means to have a Jewish sensibility. These are irreverent, quirky, and off center pieces written by known and unknown mostly Jews in their 20's and 30"s . They are always appealing and self-aware even hyper-alert young Jewish people looking and laughing at themselves.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This compilation by Heeb magazine combines humor with a profound look at being a Jewish-American assimilated into the country's culture yet keeping oneself partially immersed in Judaism. The forty-eight essays are divided unequally into six classifications that cleverly reflect like for a Jew in the United States: sex, drugs, work, youth, family, body and soul. Each is well written to bring out an experience using PowerPoint as Caryn Aviv did rather than the Rabbi or "Lesbians at temple" in which Lisa Kron explains the meaning of "Please Rise" during the High Holy days using bowel obstruction for lucid denotation. Whether it is naked at the kibbutz (Rebecca Addelman) or seeing the Hebrew School teacher naked at her home (Eric Weingrad), readers will enjoy this irreverent yet relevant look at being Jewish in America. As my spouse fondly recalls growing up with an Orthodox mom, a pagan dad, and two leaning towards paganism brothers, he remains proud four decades after bringing out into the open over the kitchen table: the point spread during Chanukah with the pot being chocolate money. This collection is a terrific anthology that uses jocularity to tell the story of Jews adapting in America several generations after having our centuries old ancestral names anglicized at Ellis.
Harriet Klausner
Anonymous
Posted December 8, 2011
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted April 28, 2011
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Overview
Scoring weed for your uncle...Hanging out with porn stars on Christmas Eve...Eating nachos with the Mossad...Observing the Dyke Days of Awe...Getting held up at a Weight Watcher's meeting...Spying on your naked Hebrew School teacher.
From Heeb magazine—the definitive voice of a proud, searching, and irreverent new generation of American Jews—this first-of-a-kind fast and fun showcase spotlights the hilarious and heartful raconteurial gifts of many of today's leading writers, ...