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2022 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction and named one of the notable books of 2021 by The New York Times
Corbin College, not quite upstate New York, winter 1959–1960: Ruben Blum, a Jewish historian—but not an historian of the Jews—is co-opted onto a hiring committee to review the application of an exiled Israeli scholar specializing in the Spanish Inquisition. When Benzion Netanyahu shows up for an interview, family unexpectedly in tow, Blum plays the reluctant host to guests who proceed to lay waste to his American complacencies. Mixing fiction with nonfiction, the campus novel with the lecture, The Netanyahus is a wildly inventive, genre-bending comedy of blending, identity, and politics that finds Joshua Cohen at the height of his powers. The New York Times described it as "Absorbing, delightful, hilarious, breathtaking and the best and most relevant novel I've read in what feels like forever."
Read by the author with David Duchovny and Ethan Herschenfeld lending their vocal talents to the audiobook.
2022 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction and named one of the notable books of 2021 by The New York Times
Corbin College, not quite upstate New York, winter 1959–1960: Ruben Blum, a Jewish historian—but not an historian of the Jews—is co-opted onto a hiring committee to review the application of an exiled Israeli scholar specializing in the Spanish Inquisition. When Benzion Netanyahu shows up for an interview, family unexpectedly in tow, Blum plays the reluctant host to guests who proceed to lay waste to his American complacencies. Mixing fiction with nonfiction, the campus novel with the lecture, The Netanyahus is a wildly inventive, genre-bending comedy of blending, identity, and politics that finds Joshua Cohen at the height of his powers. The New York Times described it as "Absorbing, delightful, hilarious, breathtaking and the best and most relevant novel I've read in what feels like forever."
Read by the author with David Duchovny and Ethan Herschenfeld lending their vocal talents to the audiobook.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
April 5, 2021 Cohen’s stinging comedy (after the collection Attention) explores Jewish identity and campus politics in a fictional imagining of the current Israeli prime minister’s family and their time spent in the U.S. in the early 1960s. Dr. Ben-Zion Netanyahu, a controversial Israeli historian forced into exile for his views, lands at Corbin College in Corbindale, N.Y., a stand-in for Cornell. Narrating in a rich first person is Ruben Blum, a history professor emeritus at Corbin, who suffered numerous “limp-slung swings and rubber-gag arrows” during his tenure. In lieu of plot, Cohen makes hay of the culture clash between the Blums and the Netanyahus, among them “quiffhaired wife” Tzila and rambunctious sons Jonathan, Benjamin, and Iddo. Uncomfortable exchanges abound on campus after the boozy aftermath of one of Netanyahu’s lectures. (Another professor describes him as “afflicted with the hubris of the wounded intelligentsia.”) Cohen’s writing is vibrant even when ruminating on esoteric details on Jewish identity theories. A juicy afterword titled “Credits and Extra Credit” elucidates the genesis of many of the novel’s components, including Cohen’s correspondence with Harold Bloom (revealed as an inspiration for Blum) and claims that “Bibi” inflated the importance of his father’s work after becoming prime minister. This blistering portrait is great fun.
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Bahrain, Egypt, Hong Kong, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen
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The only Jewish professor at a small western New York state college finds himself at his wits' end when he is asked to shepherd a radical Hebrew scholar around town on a job interview. Combining the tones of serious historical fiction with Borscht-Belt humor, author/narrator Joshua Cohen embodies the voice of Ruben Blum, who is just trying to navigate the turbulent late 1950s when his "Jewishness" is put to the test. Television standout David Duchovny and comedian Ethan Herschenfeld add deadpan cameo appearances reading letters of recommendation for the applicant. Laced with bright musical interludes and soundscapes, this crazy saga may lead the listener to ask, "Really, some of this is true?" The edges of history have never sounded like so much fun. B.P. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
