Ben Greenman – Jewcy

Daily Jewce: New Zealand Tefillin Freakout, The Madoff Family Is Over, Ben Greenman Ruins Christmas, And More

Jewcy Staff — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 15:23:33 +0000

Remember to never do anything even remotely religious when visiting New Zealand, because they might freak out and haul you in for questioning. Example: the guy who was arrested for performing the ritual of wrapping tefillin in an airport. I guess the Kiwi cops weren’t hipped to the fact that the ancient Jewish custom isn’t something you see many suicide bombers doing.

A husband in the clink and now a son in the ground: the Madoff family is over says Ruth Madoff.

Roman Abramovich buys an island to store his art.

Ben Greenman picks up on secret cables leaked from the North Pole.

How did “Jewish” Jordan Farmer fare against his former team the Los Angeles Lakers?

The post Daily Jewce: New Zealand Tefillin Freakout, The Madoff Family Is Over, Ben Greenman Ruins Christmas, And More appeared first on Jewcy.

Authors In Conversation: Ben Greenman And Elif Batuman

Jason Diamond — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 17:49:51 +0000

Things that you probably didn’t know about Russian literature:

Dostoevsky starting his book, Notes From the Underground, with the line “I AM A SICK MAN…. I am a spiteful man. I am an unattractive man,” was the basis for the 1979 comedy, The Jerk.

War And Peace was originally started with the intent of writing (in Tolstoy’s words) “a really great musical comedy.”

The only words Harpo Marx ever said on camera were actually a Pushkin quote. The footage was sadly lost.

Actually, none of those are true, but who is to say they couldn’t be, and why does everybody think Russian literature has to be dark and gloomy?

Ben Greenman and Elif Batuman are two authors not from that school of thought. Greenman’s latest book, Celebrity Chekov, omits the characters from the short stories of one of Russia’s most celebrated writers, and inserts contemporary celebrities in their places. Batuman’s book, The Possessed, is a candid and hilarious look inside the world of experts on writers like Isaac Babel and Leo Tolstoy. Both books are connected by the fact that the writers genuinely love and appreciate Russian literature, but can also view the genre through rose-colored glasses.

We asked both authors some questions for this exclusive interview.

The post Authors In Conversation: Ben Greenman And Elif Batuman appeared first on Jewcy.

The Weekly Yiderati: Justin Taylor, Norris Church Mailer, Howard Jacobson, Pre-Beard Ben Greenman and More

Jason Diamond — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 20:52:00 +0000

This week we were bummed to learn that Justin Taylor would no longer be blogging over at HTML GIANT. He didn’t really give any specifications as to why, but I’d have to guess the guy just got a little too busy with his forthcoming novel coming later in the winter. Whatever the case, I still hold tight to the claim that he’s one of the best young writers around, and I’m excited to see what he has coming up.

One writers widow discusses another: Norris Church Mailer talks about the late Harold Pinter’s wife Lady Antonia Fraser at The Daily Beast.

Over at The Millions, some discussion about Booker Prize winner Howard Jacobson.

Bookslut has an interview with Ben Greenman. The picture used of the author is pre-beard.

Our pal Largehearted Boy has started his list of other peoples “Best of 2010” lists.

At Tablet, Joshua Cohen reviews the latest translation of Doctor Zhivago. It’s quite long (would you expect anything less from Cohen?), but well worth the read.

The post The Weekly Yiderati: Justin Taylor, Norris Church Mailer, Howard Jacobson, Pre-Beard Ben Greenman and More appeared first on Jewcy.