Author Archives: Steve Pollak

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Steve Pollak

Reading ‘The Hat’ by Babette Hughes

Author Babette Hughes set her new novel in Jewish Cleveland at the start of the Great Depression. The Hat is a pretty good yarn that centers on Kate Brady, a young lady who’s looking for some stability after losing her … Continue reading

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Steve Pollak

Gmar chatima tova 5772

Dear readers, If you celebrate Yom Kippur, then I wish you an easy, meaningful fast. We’ll see you all next week. In the meantime, here are a few holiday links: Rosh Hashanah in Iceland from JTA.org Kol Nidre’s surprising appeal … Continue reading

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Steve Pollak

Now Playing: ‘Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness’

In a few weeks, the new Sholem Aleichem documentary, “Laughing In The Darkness,” will come to my neck of the woods here in Atlanta. (You can find the schedule of screenings here.) I’m not sure what to expect. The trailer … Continue reading

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Steve Pollak

Trailer for ‘Sarah’s Key’ movie

I’m late in posting this but the movie based on Tatiana de Rosnay’s novel Sarah’s Key is out in theaters now. You can check out the trailer above. The 2008 novel is, in part, a fictionalized account of the 1942 … Continue reading

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Steve Pollak

$25M Hebrew book collection back on the market

A few weeks ago, The Forward published a great story by Paul Berger about the famed Valmadonna Trust Library coming back on the market. For those of you who don’t know, the Valmadonna is a $25 million treasure trove of … Continue reading

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Steve Pollak

Waltzing With The Enemy

A new book by a mother and daughter explores a secret kept hidden during the Holocaust and its effect on survivor’s children. What’s particularly interesting is that this is a dual-memoir: both the mother and the daughter talk about their … Continue reading

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Steve Pollak

Rasputin and the Jews: A new history?

In her new book, Delin Colón used the French memoirs of her great-great uncle to put forth an interesting argument for another reason why Grigory Rasputin might have been killed – his acceptance of Russia’s Jews. Rasputin’s death is already … Continue reading

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Steve Pollak

David Unger’s “The Price of Escape”

David Unger returned to his native Guatemala for his new novel, The Price of Escape. The book spans three days in the life of a Samuel Berkow, a Jewish man who flees Nazi Germany in 1938 and heads to Guatamala … Continue reading

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Steve Pollak

‘The Mighty Walzer’ comes to the U.S.

Howard Jacobson‘s The Mighty Walzer has made its way to the United States 12 years after it was originally published in Great Britain. Jacobson won the Man Booker Prize last year for his novel, The Finkler Question, and so publishers … Continue reading

Posted on April 21, 2011 by Steve Pollak

Recommended reads: ‘The Synagogue in America: A Short History’

As far as history books go, Marc Lee Raphael’s examination of the synagogue in America is short as advertised: it weighs in at just 259 pages. Nevertheless, “The Synagogue in America: A Short History” has received kudos from several observers … Continue reading

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About

Jewish Literary Review.com is a blog that covers Jewish writing, philosophy, history and law. The site publishes book reviews, snippets of news about Jewish literature and the occasional author interview.

My name is Steven H. Pollak and I have written for the Baltimore Jewish Times, the Atlanta Jewish Times, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and American Jewish Life magazine.

In addition, I've written for several legal and business publications. At the moment, I work as SEO editor for an environmental news Web site.

Please send me an email if you'd like to pitch a book for review or if you want to send a review copy. ...Continue reading about this site.

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