Lost Tribe: Jewish Fiction from the Edge [Paperback]

Paul Zakrzewski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 2003

Funny, raw, dark, sometimes outrageous, the twenty-five contributors to Lost Tribe explore themes such as conflicted identities, sexual fetishes, religious intolerance, and even the troubled legacy of the Holocaust to create a stirring picture of contemporary Jewish life. Lost Tribe features stories and commentary from a brilliant mixture of critically acclaimed and emerging writers.

Steve Almond
Aimee Bender
Gabriel Brownstein
Judy Budnitz
Nathan Englander
Jonathan Safran Foer
Myla Goldberg
Ehud Havazelet
Dara Horn
Rachel Kadish
Gloria DeVidas Kirchheimer
Binnie Kirshenbaum
Joan Leegant
Michael Lowenthal
Ellen Miller
Tova Mirvis
Peter Orner
Jon Papernick
Nelly Reifler
Ben Schrank
Suzan Sherman
Gary Shteyngart
Aryeh Lev Stollman
Ellen Umansky
Simone Zelitch

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Read at your own risk--and great reward.” (--Stephen J. Dubner, author of Turbulent Souls and Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper )

I highly recommend this collection of fiction...(Lost Tribe) reflects the lives and struggles of all Americans today. (Minneapolis Star Tribune )

“An anthology as ambitious as it is important...offers a glimpse of the new generation of American Jewish writers. ” (—Aufbau )

“Where Jewish literature and its youngest brightest practitioners are heading--and to capture them between covers.” (—New York magazine )

…a selection of stories by writers of the “post-Philip Roth generation.” ...features tales of sexuality, remembrance, and mysticism... (Library Journal )

About the Author

Paul Zakrzewski (pronounced Zak-shef-ski) is a writer, editor, and literary event curator. As director of literary programs for the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan, he runs a popular reading series featuring new and provocative Jewish writers at the KGB Bar in the East Village. He is also an editor at Heeb magazine, a Jewish pop culture collective, which was nominated for Best New Title in the 2002 Utne Reader Alternative Press Awards. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, and can be reached at www.lost-tribe-fiction.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (August 5, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060533463
• ISBN-13: 978-0060533465
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,045,587 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not your parents Jewish fiction, August 9, 2003

By 

"caragreene372" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost Tribe: Jewish Fiction from the Edge (Paperback)

This is a witty, sardonic, engrossing, and very funny collection of stories and I highly recommend it. The voices of these writers are young, fresh, and smart. Plus, it's a great book to read on the subway.

This book, for me, was about finding a connection. These writers spoke to so many issues that I have with my own Judaism that my parents and grandparents don't have, or aren't comfortable discussing, such as dealing with the over-exposure of the Holocaust, being Jewish in a secular world and LIKING IT, and being Jewish in a world in which Israel has always existed in your life time.

These are not stories about being Jewish and being a victim, these are stories about people who happen to be Jewish and how that happens to affect their lives - or not.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Startling Book, October 25, 2003

By 

Jeffrey Sharlet (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lost Tribe: Jewish Fiction from the Edge (Paperback)

This book gives me hope for Jewish writing. The selection of stories is surprising and subtle, and together they add up to a portrait of modern Jewish life that's completely different from what one gathers from fretting Jewish newspapers and anxious studies about "intermarriage." But I don't just recommend Lost Tribe as a sociological corrective -- it's a brilliant work of editing, the themes of story responded to or carried forward by the next. I have my favorites, but I won't mention them -- get this book, read it with friends, and discuss.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Rare find, November 30, 2004

By 

Evenewra - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost Tribe: Jewish Fiction from the Edge (Paperback)

It's amazing how hard it is for me as a contemporary Jewish fiction writer to find contemporary Jewish short fiction that speaks to the current generation of Jews. This is a sad book in many ways. Many of the stories leave me with a feeling of loss. So many Jews feeling so disconnected. The high quality of the fiction helps explore those feelings of Lost Tribeness from so many angles. Really an important read, wherever you stand in the Jewish world.