I'm such a big fan of Ruth Franklin's biography of Shirley Jackson, and I cannot wait for this literary biography of Anne Frank. Thanks for this interview!
John, have you read Dara Horn's PEOPLE LOVE DEAD JEWS? It was hard for me to read about another Anne Frank book without thinking about it. Dara's book was a Kirkus Finalist the same year as me, and I've thought about re-reading it with the conversation about Zionism getting so heated the last year and a half.
She tells the stories of a bunch of Jewish communities around the world that I’d never heard of that are more recent and horribly persecuted. The basic idea is that we like to talk about the same Jews over & over again—who are dead—because it is comforting to us (dead people aren’t still making choices, and don’t need anything from us, so they are easier to talk about). We get to believe ourselves on the side of Jews while remaining firmly in the past and not having to risk opinions or actions in real time that would require something of us. I found it a fascinating and disturbing book.
I'm such a big fan of Ruth Franklin's biography of Shirley Jackson, and I cannot wait for this literary biography of Anne Frank. Thanks for this interview!
John, have you read Dara Horn's PEOPLE LOVE DEAD JEWS? It was hard for me to read about another Anne Frank book without thinking about it. Dara's book was a Kirkus Finalist the same year as me, and I've thought about re-reading it with the conversation about Zionism getting so heated the last year and a half.
I haven't read that, and it honestly only vaguely rings a bell, though I know of Dara Horn's work. I'll have to check it out.
She tells the stories of a bunch of Jewish communities around the world that I’d never heard of that are more recent and horribly persecuted. The basic idea is that we like to talk about the same Jews over & over again—who are dead—because it is comforting to us (dead people aren’t still making choices, and don’t need anything from us, so they are easier to talk about). We get to believe ourselves on the side of Jews while remaining firmly in the past and not having to risk opinions or actions in real time that would require something of us. I found it a fascinating and disturbing book.