The Best of 5767: Books
As you might’ve heard, the lunar calendar finished its cycle and the Jewish year 5767 became 5768. We considered fireworks and a night of pick-pocketing in Times Square, but instead we decided to use the opportunity to reflect upon the best the past year had to offer in the arts and culture. So, here’s the best in books of the lunar year 5767 from the loonies here at Heeb.
1. Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union (HarperCollins)
It’s easy to hate Michael Chabon, a literary rock star with piercing blue eyes that render him ruggedly handsome despite a mushy physique. But there’s no denying the man is a phenomenal writer. With The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Chabon sets a classic detective story in an expansive Choose-Your-Own-Adventure alternate reality. What if Israel collapsed in 1948? Then Sitka, Alaska would be temporary sanctuary for the world’s Jews, quarantined up north eating moose and losing faith by the day. And Chabon’s anti-hero, Det. Landsman, would be drinking himself to numbness until he bumped into a case that could unravel Sitka’s tenuous peace. And I would find myself staying up way too late, unwilling to abandon Landsman for sleep. REBECCA WIENER
The Best of the Rest:
2. Junot Diaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Riverhead)
3. Stephane Reynaud, Pork & Sons (Phaidon)
4. Denis Johnson, Tree of Smoke (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
5. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Infidel (Free Press)
6. Max Brooks, World War Z: And Oral History of the Zombie War (Crown)
7. Naomi Wolf, The End of America Green)
8. Ben Dolnick, Zoology (Vintage)
9. Amy Sedaris, I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence (Grand Central)
10. Miranda July, No One Belongs Here Than You- (Scribner)
1. Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union (HarperCollins)
It’s easy to hate Michael Chabon, a literary rock star with piercing blue eyes that render him ruggedly handsome despite a mushy physique. But there’s no denying the man is a phenomenal writer. With The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Chabon sets a classic detective story in an expansive Choose-Your-Own-Adventure alternate reality. What if Israel collapsed in 1948? Then Sitka, Alaska would be temporary sanctuary for the world’s Jews, quarantined up north eating moose and losing faith by the day. And Chabon’s anti-hero, Det. Landsman, would be drinking himself to numbness until he bumped into a case that could unravel Sitka’s tenuous peace. And I would find myself staying up way too late, unwilling to abandon Landsman for sleep. REBECCA WIENER
The Best of the Rest:
2. Junot Diaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Riverhead)
3. Stephane Reynaud, Pork & Sons (Phaidon)
4. Denis Johnson, Tree of Smoke (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
5. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Infidel (Free Press)
6. Max Brooks, World War Z: And Oral History of the Zombie War (Crown)
7. Naomi Wolf, The End of America Green)
8. Ben Dolnick, Zoology (Vintage)
9. Amy Sedaris, I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence (Grand Central)
10. Miranda July, No One Belongs Here Than You- (Scribner)
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