Josh Lambert, a Tablet Magazine contributing editor, is the academic director of the National Yiddish Book Center and Visiting Assistant Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Primary Sources

Five Books: Jews in film, Jews and booze, the poisonous sound of children’s voices in Ben Marcus’ novel, Tony Judt’s last conversations, and more

Covered

Five Books, holiday edition: Nine hardbacks—including Philip Schultz’s memoir, a history of the orgasm, and Alfred Kazin’s journals—for the readers on your list

Field Notes

Five Books: A biography of sportscaster Howard Cosell, the life of film critic Pauline Kael, the poets who translated Shakespeare into Hebrew, and more

Tropical Storm

Henry Miller had complicated feelings about Jews, but his works wouldn’t have reached American audiences without them

Around Reading

After two years and 100 weekly “On the Bookshelf” columns about new books, assessing the impressive breadth of Jewish letters today

On the Bookshelf

Jews have always been keen on joining revolutions. Some revolutionaries, like Emma Goldman, sought to change the minds of workers; others, like Richard Feynman, looked to change our understanding of matter.

On the Bookshelf

Yiddish is far from dead. It’s undead, and it haunts everything from Harvey Pekar’s comics to the vampire literature of the early 20th century.

On the Bookshelf

The term “post-Holocaust” raises conceptual problems, but a host of new books helps define it by exploring everything from Nazis on the run to Jews on the mend

On the Bookshelf

Books on what makes Jews Jewish, from debates over conversion and consideration of kashrut laws to rethinking the Jewish body, with a cameo by Bob Saget

On the Bookshelf

Running away: From Mossad-appointed time-travelers to daughters of famous novelists, these summer reads offer a healthy dose of escapism