I got to thinking today about how I’m not really someone who reads a lot of non-fiction. When I was in college, I had trouble “getting into” my textbooks, and though I can handle the occasional biography, I have to admit that I’m just plain lazy when it comes to fact-finding.
Which means that a lot of what I know I learned from fiction. And while that can be dangerous (bearing in mind my confession about my knowledge of Israeli history) it’s also true that fiction is a great place to start learning about Jewish culture, religious tradition, and ritual. Maybe not the place to get your “facts” but a good place for a secular-ish Jew to begin understanding the roots and faith of her religion. I remember distinctly that I learned about Jewish baby-buying and the Jewish need to salt meat from the All of a Kind Family.
So I thought I’d link to a few of my favorite all-time-good-reading-books, books that I’ve found especially helpful for inspiring the right questions, books that provide a sense of culture and tradition, and I thought I’d ask what books taught YOU something about being Jewish? Or taught you something about how NOT to be Jewish?
In My Father’s Court (my dad claims this is the best partially fictive memoir ever written)
Portnoy’s Complaint (for dirty naughty Jews and/or contrarians)
As a Driven Leaf (you wouldn't think the Talmudic age would be so un-boring)
Davita’s Harp (hugely important for me as an interfaith-baby, and an angsty teen)
Shosha (dybbuks, weird fornication, WWII Poland, and American actresses… tragic and moving)
Call It Sleep (ghetto Jews in New York, rough boys, and hard dialect)