The Filter

Navigation Tools
Focusing on "the spaces between genres," Maps and Legends makes a "passionate defense of 'borderlands' of literature." In one essay, Michael Chabon compares his writing process to Golem-making, since "like all major creations it endangers the life of the creator."

The Filter

Capitol Bound
Historically, the "number of blind rabbis serving in Congress has remained steady at zero," reports Jeffrey Toobin on Dennis Shulman, who's making a political run. Says the candidate, "my wife was sick of me almost throwing my shoe at the television."

The Filter

Estelle Getty, Actress
"I've played mother to everyone but Attila the Hun," Estelle Getty said of her career. Born to Polish immigrants, the Golden Girls star died this week. She got her start in New York's Yiddish theater scene and spent her teens performing standup in the Catskills.

The Filter

Crossing the Boundary
Margo Rabb was initially disappointed to find that her novel, Cures for Heartbreak, was to be marketed to young adults. She later found that the "unabashed disinterest of literary acquaintances" is a small price to pay for the emotional rewards.

The Filter

Sabbath, Interrupted
Angelina Jolie's obstetrician reports on the auspicious timing of her twins' birth: "the delivery was very emotional and exceptional as Ms. Jolie is a superstar, but I think that it happened on Shabbat made it that much more moving," he tells JTA. Ahhh, the fruits of a slow summer news cycle.

The Filter

Parallel Lives
Assuming that Jews are "smart and make a lot of money," many Chinese are reading "'self-help books purporting to reveal 'business secrets of the Jewish' and 'how to raise your kids like the Jews.'" Gabriel Wildau explores the similarities—and differences—between the two demographics.

The Schlockford Files

Great Expectations
I was born with a very low tolerance for cheesiness. When I was a kid, the worst thing you could tell me about a book or a movie was that it was “heartwarming.” In the greeting card section at the bookstore, I gravitate toward absurd cartoons and abstract designs. I prefer Woody Allen to Steven Spielberg, Ellen Willis to Nora Ephron, Wristcutters to Keeping Up With the Steins, and I’m more likely to...

The Filter

Far From the Caspian
Dalia Sofer was thrilled to see her novel, The Septembers of Shiraz, "prominently displayed on a front table during the holiday season along with Philip Roth’s Exit Ghost." Her next project will feature "an elderly man in a remote village in southwestern France," she tells the Papercuts blog.

OTHER RECENT FEATURES

More in Arts, Books, Life, Ideas

Subscribe to Nextbook

Email Newsletter
RSS
Podcasts

Most Emailed

#1 Party Faithful
A left-wing atheist ponders his religious heritage

#2 The Good Book
In Poland, a long-ignored heirloom unlocked a family’s past

#3 Bound for Gory
God & Co., Episode I

Featured Comments

#1 "Now, will you take on the challenge of animating the entire Torah? I see an Oscar in the making!"

#2 "I have reread this book numerous times. For a work that is less than 100 printed pages, it speaks volumes about life, loss, and living on."

#3 "Those who have not experienced hate, preach love, but know it not; those who have been hated, deserve love, but trust it not."

#4 "The misunderstanding is to see the world in terms of nations when we are really classes."

#5 "Rather than promoting anti-Semitism, the film -- precisely because it is so silly -- is really a brilliant critique of it."