reviews - Jewish Book Council

BOOKS OF NOTE
ONLY IN NEW YORK: AN EXPLORATION
OF THE WORLD’S MOST FASCINATING,
FRUSTRATING, AND IRREPRESSIBLE CITY
Sam Roberts
St. Martin’s Press, 2009. $23.99
ISBN: 978-0-312-38777-6
For years, Sam Roberts has been covering
what makes New York City tick in his popular
New York Times podcasts. He considers the
puzzling questions about this city that most
would never have thought to ask.
WALTER BENJAMIN AND BERTOLT
BRECHT: THE STORY OF A FRIENDSHIP
Erdmut Wizisla, Christine Shuttleworth, trans.
Yale University Press, 2009. $45.00
ISBN: 978-0-300-13695-1
The story of the friendship between Benjamin,
the acclaimed critic and literary theorist,
and Brecht, one of the 20 th century’s
most influential theater artists, during the
crucial interwar years in Berlin.
CONTEMPORARY JEWISH LIFE
BE A MENSCH: WHY GOOD CHARACTER
IS THE KEY TO A LIFE OF HAPPINESS,
HEALTH, WEALTH, AND LOVE
Moshe Kaplan
Gefen Publishing House, 2009. $12.95
ISBN: 978-965-229-433-3
Kaplan addresses a central problem of our
times: what is good character, and why
should we care about it? This is an anthology
of people telling us that the most important
achievement in life is character development.
BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL VOLUNTEER
CULTURE: FINDING MEANING IN
SERVICE IN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
Rabbi Charles Simon
Jewish Lights Publishing, 2009. $16.99
ISBN: 978-1-58023408-5
Cultivating successful volunteers in the
21 st century is increasingly more challenging.
Simon draws on over thirty years of experience
to provide you with the resources you
need to build and retain a thriving volunteer
culture for your organization.
DEAREST GEORG: LOVE, LITERATURE,
AND POWER IN DARK TIMES. THE
LETTERS OF ELIAS, VEZA, AND
GEORGES CANETTI, 1933-1948
Karen Lauer, Kristian Wachinger, eds.
David Dollenmayer, trans.
Other Press, 2010. $24.95
ISBN: 978-1-59051-297-5
In 1934, Veza Taubner and Elias Canetti
were married in Vienna. Meanwhile, an
intense intellectual love affair develops
between Veza and Georges, a young doctor
suffering from tuberculosis and Elias’ brother.
A window into the private life of Nobel Laureate
Elias Canetti, through letters discovered
by chance in a Paris basement.
A FORMULA FOR PROPER LIVING:
PRACTICAL LESSONS FROM LIFE
AND TORAH
Abraham J. Twerski
Jewish Lights Publishing, 2009. $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-58023-402-3
Twerski draws from his experience as a
psychiatrist and spiritual counselor to give us
lessons for life that we can put to daily use in
dealing with ourselves and others. Combination
of anecdotes, personal musings, and
insights and wisdom from various sources
ranging from Freud to the Talmud.
IN SEARCH OF MILKAND HONEY:
THE THEATER OF “SOVIET JEWISH
STATEHOOD” (1934–49)
Ber Boris Kotlerman
Slavica, 2009. $29.95
ISBN: 978-0893573478
In the mid-1930’s, when the Soviet regime
established Birobidzhan as the “Soviet Jewish
state” with Yiddish as its official language, the
local Yiddish theater assumed new prominence.
This book focuses on the theater’s role
as the standard bearer and guiding spirit for
this controversial exercise in nation building.
THE JEWISH PHENOMENON: SEVEN
KEYS TO THE ENDURING WEALTH
OF A PEOPLE
Steven Silbiger
M. Evans, 2009. $22.95
ISBN: 978-1-59077-154-9
Why have Jews risen to the top of the
business and professional world in numbers
staggeringly out of proportion to their percentage
of the American population? This
book sets forth seven principles that form the
bedrock of Jewish financial success.
JEWISH SAGES OF TODAY: PROFILES
OF EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE
Aryeh Rubin
Targum Shlishi, 2009. $16.95
ISBN: 978-1-934440-96-4
Who are our Jewish Heroes? Who inspires
us, makes us think, gives us hope? Here are the
profiles of twenty-seven accomplished individuals
dedicated to improving our world.
70 Jewish Book World Spring 5770/2010 www.jewishbookcouncil.org