Feeling Jewish

I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. From the publisher -

Self-hatred. Guilt. Resentment. Paranoia. Hysteria. Overbearing Mother-Love. In this witty, insightful, and poignant book, Devorah Baum delves into fiction, film, memoir, and psychoanalysis to present a dazzlingly original exploration of a series of feelings famously associated with modern Jews. Reflecting on why Jews have so often been depicted, both by others and by themselves, as prone to “negative” feelings, she queries how negative these feelings really are. And as the pace of globalization leaves countless people feeling more marginalized, uprooted, and existentially threatened, she argues that such “Jewish” feelings are becoming increasingly common to us all.

Ranging from Franz Kafka to Philip Roth, Sarah Bernhardt to Woody Allen, Anne Frank to Nathan Englander, Feeling Jewish bridges the usual fault lines between left and right, insider and outsider, Jew and Gentile, and even Semite and anti-Semite, to offer an indispensable guide for our divisive times.

I thought that this book would be a more light and airy approach to Judaism--- once I started reading I did not even get finished with the introduction. Too wordy. Too scholastic. The covered lied ... sometimes the title brings you in.-- this one did and I regret asking to review it

as a librarian if I do not learn something new or get engaged in the characters I do not finish the book as there are too many good ones out there to read and review.