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lainecid's review
very odd. i'll be honest, i didn't make it through this whole one.
emeraldberkowitz's review
4.0
This book is brilliant, biting satire that asks deep questions about who "owns" the tragedy of the Holocaust, and pretty much skewers all the different competitors for that ownership. I thought the book was fictional, and it is, but not so much, really. It's horrifyingly accurate to what I experienced as an Eastern-Europe Jewish-history-tourist. This book will make you cringe constantly and also it's incredibly funny (a potential-donor touring Auschwitz asks "Was Auschwitz always wheelchair accessible?").
The first time I read it, I didn't make it all the way through because it started to feel like the whole thing was laid on too thick, but on a second read I enjoyed the whole thing.
I read about this book in The Forward, but it was highly controversial all over the Jewish Press/blogosphere, and Ms. Reich responded to the controversy in the voice of her most cantankerous character. She's so feisty. I hope she writes more novels.
For a nonfiction version of the same information, read Ruth Ellen Gruber's VIRTUALLY JEWISH.
The first time I read it, I didn't make it all the way through because it started to feel like the whole thing was laid on too thick, but on a second read I enjoyed the whole thing.
I read about this book in The Forward, but it was highly controversial all over the Jewish Press/blogosphere, and Ms. Reich responded to the controversy in the voice of her most cantankerous character. She's so feisty. I hope she writes more novels.
For a nonfiction version of the same information, read Ruth Ellen Gruber's VIRTUALLY JEWISH.
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