Welcome to Litsy!

While some parts of this Pulitzer Prize novel went over my head, I really enjoyed the parts I got😁 In 1959 Professor Reuben Bloom is asked to host an Israeli academic who is seeking employment at a small private Catholic university. Because Bloom is the “token” Jew he finds this request insulting but of course acquiesces. The visiting professor is Benzion Netanyahu (father of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin). Highjinks ensue. Very funny.

#IRL bookclub pick - meeting on Tuesday 🤓This one is hilarious- I tend to dislike satire but I‘m really loving this Pulitzer Prize winning novel. The humor is ON POINT 🎯I‘m looking forward to our discussion 💙

I expected nothing before reading this book. Surprisingly, this is an interesting and serious book. The author‘s writing makes people, conversations and activists in this book vivid. I like this book despite it being a bit ……strange to me….

So many thoughts - and the message from the Judy based character at the end - just wow.

There are such mixed reactions on Litsy to this one! A Pulitzer Prize winner. Part fiction, part non-fiction, this incident of a professor hosting another professor and his family on campus was based loosely on an incident that Harold Bloom shared with the author. The afterword is a must read. I appreciated the humor as well as the lectures being given by the visiting professor. I also had to use my dictionary more than once. 🤓

This is something I do exactly 1% of the time. Listen/read three books at a time. Library holds came in and I‘m “forced” to read them all now.

Fortunately I own the Grohl book … but I really wanted to have him read to me. 😍😍

I adored this campus novel. Well-crafted, entertaining and so very funny. Deserving of its Pulitzer win, in my opinion. And much if it takes place around the holidays (with the requisite family drama) so this was the perfect time of year to enjoy it.

I went with print, but my husband raved about the audiobook production so you may want to give that a try. Heartily recommend!

3⭐️ This started really well; it‘s funny and refreshing, but I didn‘t like it when the story has became heavy with slapstick comedy. It‘s the winner of Pulitzer price of fiction 🤷🏻‍♀️ I just don‘t get it. All the awards and prizes have been quite questionable of late, anyway.

Slow progress….

Lol ! Love this! I think I‘ll be having a good time with this novel

This book defies easy description. I definitely enjoyed it. Honestly, it was a pretty wild ride by the end.

Monday #bookmail. Quite the subtitle on this one! Winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. I was somewhat disappointed that it didn‘t go to The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois, but it is always kind of fun to see lesser known titles get some prize love. I‘ve not read Joshua Cohen before. Look forward to giving him a try.

I did not understand my reaction to this book - I loved it at first and/but grew to almost hate it. I was intrigued by the time and setting at the start of the book, but I guess steadily lost interest as the Netanyahus themselves entered the story and things went off the rails (and got more slapstick). There's a lot of fun and humor early on with etymology and language.

Part comedic farce, part campus novel, this novel also somehow includes several essays about the Jewish diaspora and 20th century Zionism. A weird mix that might not have worked, but I enjoyed the whole thing.

A polemic more than a novel. Very broad farce meets Roth-like diaspora angst meets revisionist Zionist militant crankiness. Thin, kind of mean-spirited book.