In an excerpt from Molly Haskell’s new biography of the film titan, memories of a nerdy-nicknamed Jewish outsider in the Phoenix ’burbs, just like the neighborhood in Poltergeist—‘a wimp in a world of jocks’
An excerpt from Itamar Rabinovich’s new biography of the Israeli leader and statesmen reviews Rabin’s time as Ambassador to the United States
An excerpt from Barry W. Holtz’s new biography of the 1st-century sage of the Talmud
An excerpt from Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg’s new biography of the looming figure of Jewish culture
An excerpt from Jeffrey Rosen’s new biography of the Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis shows the extraordinary jurist thinking about America and Israel
A new biography examines the ground-breaking cases, comportment, and all-around genius of the country’s first Jewish justice
An excerpt from David Cesarani’s new biography of Benjamin Disraeli shows the British Prime Minister living in a time of innocence, before ‘race science’
In an excerpt from Neal Gabler’s new biography of Barbra Streisand, the Broadway actress chases her career-making Fanny Brice role
Neal Gabler examines how the performer’s evolution changed the definition of femininity and Jewishness
Lee Siegel’s new biography of the brilliant, cryptic comic actor uncovers the life behind the work. (But does not reveal why the elephant was wearing Groucho’s pajamas.)
Critic Lee Siegel explores the misanthropy that drove Groucho Marx and examines how we miss the mark on the comedic giant
An excerpt from Benjamin Taylor’s new biography of the great French writer
Marcel Proust went from dilettante to literary legend. Biographer Benjamin Taylor explains how.
An excerpt from Francine Prose’s new biography of the eminent art collector and socialite Peggy Guggenheim
Peggy Guggenheim: the bon vivant and tell-all memoirist who defied her family, took a thousand lovers, and forever changed the art world
Biographer Steven Gimbel Talks Us Through the Physicist’s Views on Religion, Israel, and (Yikes) His Theory of Relativity
Sociologist Pierre Birnbaum says it’s time Léon Blum—French Socialist, Zionist, wartime hero, and prime minister—got his due
An excerpt from Pierre Birnbaum’s new biography of the French titan
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