- Hardcover: 255 pages
- Publisher: Algonquin Books (Oct 5 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 156512538X
- ISBN-13: 978-1565125384
- Product Dimensions: 18.5 x 15.3 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 635 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,668,549 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Despite a cheery title, the writers in this odd little holiday book tackle their subject-and its attendant traditions of family, guilt and, well, tradition-with ambivalence, a real sense of soul-searching and a bit of self-pity. Trying to make peace with their Chanukah memories, most of these writers are quick to point out its relative unimportance in the Jewish roster of holidays, inflated by its proximity to Christmas; still, their stories are clearly vivifying. There's a great deal of kvetching over the influence and excess of Christmas, and not just its consumerism; Jill Kargman, for example, writes about some casual mid-sermon anti-Semitism at a midnight mass. There's also solidarity to be found, as in Peter Orner's story of growing up in a family of "Christmas-tree Jews": "Let me be clear: we had no relationship with Christ beyond loving the mall like everyone else in America." Standouts include graphic artist Eric Orner's "Traditions Break," a compact and involving story about a young woman's first Chanukah alone; Joanna Smith Rakoff's "Dolls of the World," an accomplished troubled-family tale; and Josh Braff's "The Blue Team," which happily extols, "What a holiday.... No synagogue, no guilt, no mortar, and no real lesson to be absorbed and passed down to my Jewish offspring. Thank God."
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Book Description
What a holiday! No pestilence, no slavery, no locusts, no cattle disease or atonement. No synagogue, no guilt, no mortar, and no real lesson to be absorbed and passed down to my Jewish offspring. Thank God, writes Joshua Braff, one of eighteen Jewish writers who extol, excoriate, and expand our understanding of this most merry of Jewish holidays. These essays, by Adam Langer, Tova Mirvis, Steve Almond, Eric Orner, and others, range from the comedic to the snarky, the poignant to the poetic, and includes such topics as the jealousy experienced in December when the rest of America is celebrating Christmas (we never get to join in the reindeer games!); the problem parents have dampening their children's desire for more presents (call it Greedikah!); and the weight gain associated with eating 432 latkes in eight nights (dayenu, enough!). Whether your Chanukahs were spent singing I have a Little Dreidel or playing the Maoz Tzur on the piano, whether your family tradition included a Christmas tree or a Chanukah bush, whether the fights among your siblings over who would light the menorah candles rivaled the battles of the Maccabees, or even if you haven't a clue who the Maccabees were, this little book proves there are as many ways to celebrate Chanukah as there are ways to spell it.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
AS A FEROCIOUSLY RELUCTANT YESHIVA BOY IN THE 1970S, I THOUGHT THAT CHANUKAH WAS WITHOUT A DOUBT THE MOST JOYOUS TIME OF THE YEAR. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
AS A FEROCIOUSLY RELUCTANT YESHIVA BOY IN THE 1970S, I THOUGHT THAT CHANUKAH WAS WITHOUT A DOUBT THE MOST JOYOUS TIME OF THE YEAR. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
3.0 out of 5 stars
insubstantial, Nov 13 2010
By Michael Lewyn - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: How to Spell Chanukah: 18 Writers on 8 Nights of Lights (Hardcover)
A group of stories (mostly, I think, nonfictional) by a group of (mostly, I think, youngish and secular) Jewish writers about some of their Chanukah experiences. One or two of the stories are moving, one or two are humorous; most were just unmemorable. On the positive side, this book is an easy and (mostly) painless read- the sort of book that you could comfortably read if you were trapped on an airplane for two or three hours, but not exactly a life-changing experience.
0 of 10 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
How to Spell Chanukah, April 14 2008
By L. Caplan - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: How to Spell Chanukah: 18 Writers on 8 Nights of Lights (Hardcover)
After reading the original reviews of this book, it was ordered for our synagogue's library. Upon receipt of the book and reading most of it, our librarian found it quite inappropriate for our young adults. It is now hidden amongst our adult books (in an area few people use).
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