Posts Tagged ‘Literature’
PATRICIA HIGHSMITH AND PSYCHOPATHS
In 1943, when she was 22 years old, Patricia Highsmith — self-aware — asked her diary, “Am I a psychopath? In a Psychology Today article at this link, I examine why Highsmith was so expert at creating vivid, disturbing, and believable characters. I’m interested to learn what you have to say, so please let…
Read MoreI have a publisher!
I am pleased to announce that my memoir SUMMONS TO BERLIN will be published by She Writes Press in the autumn of 2023. Additionally, FIG TREE BOOKS have selected a chapter of SUMMONS TO BERLIN for inclusion in their February 2022 newsletter.
Read MoreMy Book Selected by Fig Tree Lit
I am pleased to report that a prominent Jewish publisher, FIG TREE BOOKS, have included a chapter from my upcoming memoir SUMMONS TO BERLIN in their February 2022 newsletter. (The text of this blog post continues below the image.) FIG TREE BOOKS take their company name from a phrase President George Washington included in a…
Read MoreAUTHOR’S CORNER: HOLLY-JANE RAHLENS
(Holly-Jane Rahlens. Photo credit; Heike Barndt) Holly-Jane Rahlens graduated from my alma mater, Forest Hills High School in Queens, but ran off to Berlin where literary stardom found her, so if you understand predetermination, you’ll know why the two of us had no choice but to do this blog interview. An enchanting excerpt from Holly-Jane’s…
Read MoreNOVELIST’S CORNER: BINNIE KIRSHENBAUM
Novelist and short-story writer Binnie Kirshenbaum is a two-time Critics’ Choice Award winner as well as being a Professor at Columbia University School of the Arts. Her keenly-anticipated and now widely-acclaimed novel RABBITS FOR FOOD portrays a writer named Bunny recovering from a breakdown. In her Boston Globe review of RABBITS FOR FOOD, novelist…
Read MoreGERMAN-JEWISH NOVELIST MIRNA FUNK
The German-Jewish author Mirna Funk was born in 1981 in East Berlin. These days, she splits her time between Berlin and Tel Aviv. Her first novel, WINTERNÄHE (pronounced Vinter-NAY-eh) has been critically acclaimed; it won the Uwe Johnson Literary Prize for 2015. Mirna also writes, among other things, a delightful column on Jewish life for German Vogue…
Read MoreLITERARY LIGHT ERIKA DREIFUS
I’m proud and excited to be offering this interview with literary light Erika Dreifus. Reviewing Dreifus’s short story collection QUIET AMERICANS for The Quivering Pen, David Abrams said: “She’s a classic storyteller and there’s a clear, direct line from Isaac Bashevis Singer and Bernard Malamud to her 21st-century keyboard.” I highly recommend following Erika Dreifus…
Read MoreLeonard Barkan’s BERLIN FOR JEWS
Princeton Professor Leonard Barkan is a polymath whose past books include MUTE POETRY, SPEAKING PICTURES and UNEARTHING THE PAST; ARCHEOLOGY AND AESTHETICS IN THE MAKING OF RENAISSANCE CULTURE. Barkan’s latest book, BERLIN FOR JEWS, is a tour de force of writing about Germany’s capital city. Recently, I caught up with Leonard Barkan for this interview. 1) Since you finished…
Read MoreAUTHOR’S CORNER: GREG MITCHELL
(NOTE: This post has been updated at the bottom with a sampling of enthusiastic reviews of Greg Mitchell’s THE TUNNELS) Award-winning author Greg Mitchell‘s past books include THE CAMPAIGN OF THE CENTURY, about Upton Sinclair’s gubernatorial race in California, and JOY IN MUDVILLE; A LITTLE-LEAGUE MEMOIR. In this interview, I catch up with Greg, whose…
Read MoreAuthor’s Corner: Ralph Blumenthal
Author Ralph Blumenthal, whose parents were born in Berlin, worked for 45 years for The New York Times, and still contributes to the paper regularly. I am pleased to present my interview of this outstanding writer. 1) Do you remember when you first heard about the Holocaust, and what you thought about it at the…
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