Jewish American Literature

“The Good War”: An Oral History of World War II was published in 1984 and received the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction the following year. Written by Studs Terkel, the book is still considered a classic of oral history. Unlike traditional history, which tends to rely on written records and other material artifacts like works of art and literature or archaeological remains, oral histories collect information about past events through interviews with individuals who were... Read The Good War Summary

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The Harbinger, by Jonathan Cahn, a Messianic Jewish rabbi and author, is Cahn’s debut novel. The Harbinger is described as a Christian novel; it uses and relies on themes, concepts, and scripture that are prevalent in the Old Testament. It was initially published in September 2011 by FrontLine, an imprint of Charisma House, which is a religious publishing group dedicated to spreading religious messages. FrontLine is the imprint of Charisma House used for discussing cultural... Read The Harbinger Summary

Wendy Wasserstein’s play The Heidi Chronicles first opened Off-Broadway with Playwrights Horizons in 1988, transferring to Broadway for a successful run in 1989. The play follows Heidi Holland from the ages of 16 to 40 as she explores her desires for her own life, inspired by the liberation of feminism, but tempered by gendered expectations in a patriarchal society. Critics celebrated the play for introducing feminism into mainstream theater. Wasserstein wrote 11 plays, and The... Read The Heidi Chronicles Summary

The History of Love (2005) is a novel by American writer Nicole Krauss. The book, Krauss’s second novel, was awarded the 2008 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing and was a finalist for the 2006 Orange Prize for Fiction. It is a novel about the intersection of love, loneliness, language, and literature, as three characters are connected by a mysterious book called The History of Love. The novel plays with postmodern techniques like fragmentation and... Read The History of Love Summary

The House of God is a novel written by American author and doctor Samuel Bergman under the pseudonym Samuel Shem and originally published in 1978. The book is heavily based on Bergman’s own experiences as a medical intern in the early 1970s, and the fictional hospital “the House of God” is a thinly veiled fictional version of the Beth Israel teaching hospital associated with Harvard Medical School. The novel is a satire in the vein... Read The House of God Summary

The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007) is written and illustrated by Brian Selznick, author of Wonderstruck, The Marvels, and several other well-known novels. The Invention of Hugo Cabret is categorized as historical fiction, but it fits into multiple other genres as well. In an Amazon Exclusive letter, Selznick says his novel’s unique nature makes it “not exactly a novel, not quite a picture book, not really a graphic novel, or a flip book or a... Read The Invention of Hugo Cabret Summary

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The Iron Trial (2014) is a young adult fantasy novel by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. Both Black and Clare are New York Times best-selling authors who have separately written multiple young adult novels. The Iron Trial is the first book in the Magisterium series and follows Callum “Call” Hunt, a 12-year-old boy who earns a place at a sinister magic school called the Magisterium. At the Magisterium, Call makes startling discoveries about his true... Read The Iron Trial Summary

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Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes (1939) is often considered a classic American 20th-century drama. Set in Alabama in 1900, the play explores themes of greed, passive violence, and female agency in the deep south, not yet 50 years removed from the end of the Civil War. The Little Foxes premiered at The National Theatre on Broadway in New York City in 1939 starring Tallulah Bankhead as Regina, before touring for two seasons across the United... Read The Little Foxes Summary

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The Minds of Billy Milligan (1981) is a nonfiction work by Daniel Keyes, documenting the life and experiences of William Stanley “Billy” Milligan, the first defendant found not guilty by reason of insanity because of dissociative identity disorder (DID). The book follows Milligan’s early life experiences that led to his illness, arrest, and trial after the rapes of three women on the Ohio State University campus, as well as the years he spent in different... Read The Minds of Billy Milligan Summary

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“The Moral Bucket List” is an essay by David Brooks first published in the New York Times Op-Ed Section on April 11, 2015. Born in Toronto and raised in New York, Brooks is a prominent cultural journalist, political analyst, and book author. Since 2003, he has written a twice-weekly column for the New York Times, and since 2004, he has been a political analyst for PBS NewsHour. “The Moral Bucket List” is an adapted excerpt... Read The Moral Bucket List Summary

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