The Wicked Son: Anti-Semitism, Self-hatred, and the Jews (Jewish Encounters) [Paperback]

David Mamet (Author)

Book Description

Series: Jewish Encounters | Publication Date: September 15, 2009

David Mamet's interest in anti-Semitism is not limited to the modern face of an ancient hatred but encompasses as well the ways in which many Jews have internalized that hatred. Using the metaphor of the Wicked Son at the Passover seder (the child who asks, "What does this story mean to you?") Mamet confronts what he sees as an insidious predilection among some Jews to exclude themselves from the equation and to seek truth and meaning anywhere--in other religions, political movements, mindless entertainment--but in Judaism itself. He also explores the ways in which the Jewish tradition has long been and still remains the Wicked Son in the eyes of the world. Written with the searing honesty and verbal brilliance that is the hallmark of Mamet's work, The Wicked Son is a powerfully thought-provoking look at one of the most destructive and tenacious forces in contemporary life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The world hates the Jews. The world always has and will continue to do so." So says celebrated playwright and novelist Mamet in this new entry in the Jewish Encounters series, as he sets his sights on both anti-Semites and apostate Jews, whom he refers to as "the Wicked Sons." Mamet marshals his passion and mastery of language to argue that only religious observance is an authentic, non-self-hating expression of Judaism. Organizing that argument coherently, however, doesn't seem to be a priority, as he moves from discussions of the State of Israel to excoriations of assimilated Jews and contemporary culture and back with no apparent order. The tone is that of the condescending expert: alternately Talmudic scholar, academic, psychoanalyst and anthropologist. But nowhere is Mamet's expertise proven; he provides no source materials to back up his pronouncements on everything from Santa Claus to gun control to religious observance. The implication of this bombastic text seems to be that anyone who disagrees is a coward, an anti-Semite or a self-hating Jew. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Mamet, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and filmmaker, has written a rather confusing but very provocative analysis of what is often called the "longest hatred" and its effects on Jews. Those unfamiliar with the often-oblique dialogue that characterizes Mamet's fiction will probably find wading through his language frustrating. His repeated allusions to the Bible and other literary sources are strained, and he paints with too broad a brush ("the world hates Jews"). If one can cut through the fog and tolerate his generalizations, it is evident that Mamet is on to something, particularly in his views on the apparent increase in Jewish disdain for and rejection of their own culture. He ties Jewish self-hatred to anti-Semitism, asserting that the victims eventually wonder if they somehow "deserve" the opprobrium heaped on them. So called "emancipated" Jews may try to cleanse themselves of racial taint by disparaging "Jewish" traits. Of course, Mamet finds the worst manifestations of this self-hatred in those Jews who seem to delight in attacking the very existence of Israel. In Mamet's view, they absurdly condemn Jewish passivity during the Holocaust and condemn Jewish aggressiveness in defending the State of Israel. This isn't an easy book to read, and it will likely outrage many Jews and non-Jews, but Mamet's blunt, passionate assertions have to be seriously considered. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Schocken; Reprint edition (September 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805211578
• ISBN-13: 978-0805211573
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #361,769 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Book For Apostates: That Is, Most Of Us, January 18, 2007

By 

R. W. Rasband (Heber City, UT) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Wicked Son: Anti-Semitism, Self-hatred, and the Jews (Jewish Encounters) (Hardcover)

Those who are familiar with David Mamet only through plays like "Glengarry Glen Ross" and movies like "House of Games" are in for a rough surprise when they read his short, sharp book "The Wicked Son." The style is similar to his plays (without the storm of profanity). You find the same twisting but seductive rhythms, the slashing humor, and the brutal truth-telling. But this is a book explicitly about a single topic: anti-Semitism (although in the process he covers a lot more ground.) And not just the anti-Semitism of the world, but the self-hatred of the cultural, secular Jewish person who is estranged from his or her heritage. There are many, I gather, who will find this book very difficult to read, but if it's taken in the spirit in which it is intended (a sincere offer of help from a brother) I think you will find it fascinating.

I am Mormon rather than Jewish, but I can clearly see how this book applies to any religious tradition to a certain extent (as Mamet himself says when comparing the central stories of the sacrifice of Isaac with the Crucifixion.) This book bristles on every page with provocative thoughts on community, guilt, sin, sadomasochism, wealth and poverty, Israel, the Middle East, religiously-mixed marriages (he's for them), tribal life, and holiness. His bottom line: the unhappiness of the Jewish person alienated from religion is not caused by the tradition, but the individual reaction to the tradition. To the Jew who says "I gave it up because I had a bad experience with a rabbi", Mamet replies: that's like saying I had a bad experience with a doctor so I gave up medicine. Or I never got married because I had a bad experience with a woman. Get over yourself, in other words: come down off the cross and use the wood to build a bridge to the future.

Mamet quotes more than once the longshoreman/philosopher Eric Hoffer, and "The Wicked Son" does remind me of one of Hoffer's common-sense books. I finished it feeling better and, I hope, thinking much more clearly. All of us who live in the modern world are to some extent apostates; that is, we have experienced the anxiety of loneliness, doubt, and separation from the influences of our parents. But I think anyone who has experienced the joy that can come from participation in a religious community will really identify with and like this book. And those who have closed themselves off from such experiences may get an inkling of what they are missing.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Yikes!, March 15, 2007

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Jack L. Moline (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Wicked Son: Anti-Semitism, Self-hatred, and the Jews (Jewish Encounters) (Hardcover)

As Bill Maher said to David Mamet, "I knew you were Jewish, but I didn't know you were THAT Jewish!"

Mamet is an exquisite and versatile writer who is unashamed of the English language and its resources. This polemic against Jewish disloyalty is eloquent and best read with a dictionary and thesaurus nearby.

For all the beauty of the work, I would be hard pressed to tell you much about the message of the book beyond "get in or get out." Mamet is as harsh in his treatment of Jewish indifference and self-hatred as Ann Coulter is of liberals.

Ironically, Mamet himself is a liberal Jew. The result is a Reform Jew who has composed an Orthodox screed using the vocabulary of Conservative writer William Safire. It is unsettling, even for those of us who already "got in." Maybe that's the point -- but I still needed an antacid when I finished.

32 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Theme--Difficult Read, February 10, 2007

By 

S. Kohn "Give me a break" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Wicked Son: Anti-Semitism, Self-hatred, and the Jews (Jewish Encounters) (Hardcover)

I agree totally with the theme of this book. Mamet describes a degree of Jewish intentional self-hate and anti-intellectualism about the subject of Judaism that is extraordinary.

It always amazes me when I sit in a synagogue and hear otherwise sophisticated Jews brag of the ignorance of anything Jewish.

Or when individuals who at some level identify as Jews disparage Israel with the same words and hate as Hamas.

The scorching words from Mamet tackle these two types.

But, as much as I agree strongly with the theme, the book is an agony to read. The excerpt on the book cover or in book reviews is as clear as it gets. Passages such as this appear every 15 pages or so. The shrill voice of the author never stops. When one hears a speaker whose only voice is screaming, after a while turning off is the only salvation.

A book like this could be finished in one long flight. It is so ponderous that I avoided taking it on two recent 18 hour flights.

So much more could have been said about the subject in this short book (189 pages), but so much seems to be devoted to Mamet's tirade that it is a hard read. Very clever; very much too clever. It too much reminds me of the high school intellectual trying to show how much she knows rather than an author trying to convey a vital subject to his audience.

Given the anger in tone and the scorn in the picture on the book jacket cover, it is hard to imagine an editor confronting the author. Shame.