Shalom Auslander Libros

Violent rabbis, lovelorn wives, a busy Grim Reaper, shame-filled simians, and one seriously angry deity populate this humorous and disquieting collection.

Foreskin's Lament reveals Auslander's youth in a strict, socially isolated Orthodox community, and recounts his rebellion and efforts to make a new life apart from it. Auslander remembers his youthful attempt to win the ‘blessing bee’ (the Orthodox version of a spelling bee), his exile to reform school in Israel after being caught shoplifting a cassette tape of West Side Story, and his twenty-five-mile hike to watch the New York Rangers play in Madison Square Garden without violating the Sabbath. Throughout, Auslander struggles to understand God and His complicated, often contradictory laws. But ultimately, he settles for a ceasefire with God, accepting the very slim remaining hope that his newborn son might live free of guilt, doubt, and struggle. Auslander’s combination of unrelenting humour and anger – a voice that compares to those of David Sedaris and Dave Eggers – delivers a rich and fascinating self-portrait of a man grappling with his faith, family, and community. Praise for Shalom Auslander 'There is a serious point to Auslander's fictional games. He wants us to be careful of taking any figure of authority too seriously; God is just the prime example . . . Its real heroes are literary: writers such as James Joyce and Samuel Beckett who use prose to get at something more mysterious and mystical than any religion - our love of and trust in language, to amuse and distract us from death' Times Literary Supplement

An outrageously tasty comedy about identity, tribalism and mothers.

Solomon Kugel has had enough of the past and its burdens. So, in the hope of starting afresh, he moved his family to a small rural town where nothing of import has ever happened. Sadly, Kugel's life isn't that simple. His family soon find themselves threatened by a local arsonist and his ailing mother won't stop reminiscing about the Nazi concentration camps she didn't actually suffer through. And when, one night, Kugel discovers a living, breathing, thought-to-be-dead specimen of history hiding in his attic, bad very quickly becomes worse.

The memoir explores Shalom Auslander's journey to break free from the biblical narratives of his upbringing while grappling with the challenges of forging a new identity for himself and his family. It delves into themes of faith, personal conflict, and the quest for self-definition amidst the weight of tradition. Through his reflections, Auslander's struggle highlights the complexities of leaving behind a deeply ingrained belief system in search of personal truth and meaning.

A memoir of Shalom Auslander's attempt to escape the biblical story he'd been raised on and his struggle to construct a new story for himself and his family.

Hier zückt Gott schon mal seine Knarre, wenn nicht alles so läuft, wie er sich das ausgedacht hat. Hier kommt das schlechte Gewissen auf vier Pfoten angetappt und wird dafür von einem Pornostarlet überfahren. Hier wird im Himmel geflucht und auf Erden gebetet - und vor allem wir hier kein Blatt vor den Mund genommen. Ein scharfes, respektloses Debüt voller Witz. Auslander brilliert auf dem schmalen Grat zwischen Komik und Ernst. Glänzend." Jerusalem Post

Ein wahrhaft lustiges Buch. So lustig, dass manche wohl nicht darüber lachen können. Aber in unserer Welt voller Verrücktheiten und Neurosen ist Shalom Auslanders scharfsinnige, böse Sicht auf die Dinge auch ein strahlender Funken Hoffnung. Und sein Roman »Hoffnung« ein Werk von ungeheurer Chuzpe.

Cresciuto in una comunità ebrea ortodossa nello stato di New York, fra mille divieti e sotto la costante minaccia di un Dio vendicativo ed eternamente arrabbiato, Shalom Auslander ha fatto di tutto per affrancarsi da quell'ambiente e da quelle tradizioni, eppure si ritrova, anche da adulto felicemente sposato e in attesa di un figlio -, a lottare per scrollarsi di dosso la sua ossessione. Perché lui crede, e non può fare a meno di credere, in un Dio personale. E proprio questo è il suo problema: è convinto che Dio ce l'abbia "personalmente" con lui, che sia sempre pronto a rovinargli qualsiasi gioia e a rifilargli qualche fregatura. Con umorismo spietato e rabbia feroce, Auslander ripercorre le tappe di un percorso di formazione a ostacoli: le gare di benedizioni organizzate dai rabbini alle scuole elementari; le prime disastrose esperienze con le ragazze (reali e immaginarie); i due anni trascorsi in una scuola religiosa di Gerusalemme per adolescenti ebrei irrequieti; i mille traslochi insieme alla moglie da una zona all'altra di New York alla ricerca della loro personale Terra Promessa. Sempre disposto a negoziare con Dio e con i suoi "emissari", a barattare una trasgressione con la promessa di rigare dritto in futuro, Auslander cerca di stabilire con l'implacabile avversario una sorta di cessate il fuoco in vista della nascita di suo figlio, perché il bambino possa crescere sano e libero dai sensi di colpa.