Looking Back to a Better Time – Postwar Stories: How Books Made Judaism American by Rachel Gordan

This scholarly book examines what the author, Rachel Gordan, calls anti-antisemitism writing, in novels and non-fiction books about Judaism, and in magazines, starting just after World War II and going into the 1950s. One of the most famous examples of fiction of the period is the 1947 Gentleman's Agreement, by Laura Z. Hobson, a novel about a gentile journalist who goes undercover as a Jew to write about the experience of antisemitism and exclusion in New York City and the upper class suburbs of Connecticut. It was a tremendous bestseller, and was made into an Oscar-winning movie with Gregory Peck in the leading role.

Another is the 1958 Exodus, by Leon Uris, about the founding of the State of Israel following the voyage of the immigration ship "Exodus". It too was made into a highly successful film, released in 1960, starring Paul Newman in the central role. Though I was a young child in pajamas in the back of my parents' car at a drive-in theater, I still remember the impression made on me by its stirring music and vivid graphic opening.

Gordan examines other best-selling fiction by such writers as Herman Wouk, the author of Marjorie Morningstar and The Caine Mutiny, who also wrote the non-fiction This Is My God, his interpretation of Judaism (also a bestseller), and similar non-fiction texts by rabbis of the period. Wouk was a practitioner of Modern Orthodox Judaism, and the other books examined Judaism from the Reconstructionist and Reform viewpoints.

In addition, she describes the special features on Judaism (and other major religions) in mainstream magazines like "Time", "Life", and "Look", which were revolutionary in bringing a Jewish perspective into the mainstream of American life.

On the whole, it presents a positive view of the evolution and mainstreaming of Jewish life in America after World War II, and onward, until the last decade or so, when we began to see obvious evidence of increased antisemitism once again, typified by the Tree of Life synagogue attack in Pittsburgh in 2018. It is a highly informative and fascinating book, but it was written before the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas and the ensuing events. Since then, everything has changed, and the hopeful sentiments of this book must, sadly, be viewed as nostalgia.

Modern Renaissance Man – Mike Nichols: A Life by Mark Harris

Mike Nichols was an acclaimed director of theater and film, but also acted and performed comedy in his early career, particularly with the writer Elaine May. His most famous movies include "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf", with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, "The Graduate" with Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft, and "Silkwood" with Meryl Streep, Cher, and Kurt Russell, just to name a few. On Broadway, he directed "Barefoot in the Park", "The Odd Couple", and many others. He died in 2014.

This book is an encyclopedic compendium of his many projects, with a tremendous amount of detail, many interviews, and quotations, but it is not an insightful interpretation of the man and what made him tick. The author presents Nichols's life chronologically, with many pages devoted to his childhood and early career. I kept waiting for the author to get into the meat of Nichols's career, and it took a long time for that to happen. I found that his approach made me impatient, and I began skipping sections and chapters to get to the highlights that most interested me.

I found the sheer volume of material to be overwhelming, and felt the book would have been more effective with closer editing and the shortening of some of the chapters. Still, if you are interested in learning everything there is to know about such subjects as the disastrous making of the film "Catch-22", but also the triumph of "The Graduate", then this is the book for you.