Customer Reviews

Growing Up Jewish: An Anthology

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Avon Books has produced another gem in its "Growing Up" series this time focusing on a minority religious group that has had an overwhelming impact on American and European cultures. Growing Up Jewish tells the story from the perspective of twenty-five Jewish writers who share with us their early memories of coming of age in America. Each author celebrates their heritage through fictional stories, essays and autobiographies. Why, one might ask, do we need another book about Jewish life in America? After all, isn't there an abundance of material on the subject? Haven't they assimilated themselves into the American landscape to the point of being no different from their gentile counter-parts? Although the above question are pertinent they miss the point. A people ceases to exist when the stories and memories are forgotten from one generation to another. Growing Up gives the reader a snapshot of these rich memories of young people as immigrants, conflicts with their religious practices from the old country, prejudices from their gentile communities and other challenges which calls into question what it means to be Jewish in America. The sharing of these stories brings with it clarity for some and even more questions for others. This is a must read book for those wanting to re-aquaint themselves with their Jewish heritage as well as a great literary resource of the finest Jewish writers in America. Keeping memories alive is even more important as we enter an age where memory is denied ( the Holocaust never happened), assimilation has dulled cultural and religious recall and antisemitism once again rears its ugly head.

This is an interesting collection a strange mixture of memoir and fictional accounts of growing up Jewish in America. I found Ari Goldman's story of his parent's divorce when he was six, and how he contended with this especially interesting. Philip Roth on the friends of his high- school years was also very good. I honestly did not find anything ' great' in the work but there is a lot of good and pleasurable work here. I would too have liked to see a greater focus on the religious aspect of growing up Jewish.