Friday, March 15, 2013

The splendor and distinction of Iranian-Jewish art

By Jonathan Kirsch

For visitors to the Fowler Museum’s recent exhibition, the show’s catalog, “Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews” edited by David. . .

Thursday, March 7, 2013

The clout of Judge Stanley Mosk

By Jonathan Kirsch

A new biography of California Supreme Court Justice Stanley Mosk opens with an apt quote from the late and much-loved Jewish Journal columnist. . .

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

The wrath of history

By Jonathan Kirsch

Much has been written about anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, but “anti-Judaism” is something else again.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

The Peanut Gallery: An American Icon Examined

Jonathan Kirsch, Book Editor

The rich and satisfying story of peanut butter is told by Jon Krampner in “Creamy & Crunchy: An Informal History of Peanut Butter, The All-American. . .

Monday, October 8, 2012

Rosner’s ‘Voter’s Guide’ offers an insider’s view

By Jonathan Kirsch

Every four years, the same question is asked in America: Which candidate will win the Jewish vote? With the 2012 presidential election teetering on a. . .

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

The illusion of a solution

By Jonathan Kirsch

Of all the incendiary books that have been written about Israel over the last year or so, none is quite as fiery as "Israel: The Will to Prevail" by. . .

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Paul Auster’s haunting view of aging

By Jonathan Kirsch

Paul Auster is best known and often praised for his postmodernist novels and short stories, including "The New York Trilogy" and "Sunset Park," but. . .

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Mickey Cohen’s colorful life of crime

By Jonathan Kirsch

Meyer Harris Cohen was born in the Jewish Pale of Settlement in imperial Russia, immigrated with his family to the Brownsville neighborhood of. . .

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Re-examining Twain’s work, Clemens’ life

By Jonathan Kirsch

Ira Fistell is a familiar and even beloved figure in the Los Angeles radio market, where he long served as an exceptionally amiable, thoughtful and. . .

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

...With liberty, justice and religion for all

By Jonathan Kirsch

The biblical reference in the title of Stephen Prothero’s “The American Bible: How Our Words Unite, Divide, and Define a Nation” (HarperOne:. . .

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Israel in the eyes of Harvey Pekar

By Jonathan Kirsch

Ever since Art Spiegelman’s “Maus” won a Pulitzer Prize, no apologies need to be made for the aspirations of comic book artists to enter the. . .

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Anne Frank, in her family’s eyes

By Jonathan Kirsch

Anne Frank, the single most famous name among the six million victims of the Shoah, entered the realm of history and literature with the posthumous. . .

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Intro to Israel considers what ‘Matters’

By Jonathan Kirsch

Much heated conversation is conducted in these pages and elsewhere in the media about Israel. We debate every aspect of Israel’s present and future. . .

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Love letter to Naples, warts and all

By Jonathan Kirsch

For me, no genre of literature is quite as enchanting or enriching as the travel memoir. Indeed, two of the titles on my own shortlist of favorite. . .

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Probing the mysterious fate of the Romanovs

By Jonathan Kirsch

Over the many years I've spent bumping around the book business, I have introduced my wife, Ann, to a great many literary lions and lionesses, but. . .

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Daughter’s journey to the other side of the mechitzah

By Jonathan Kirsch

Investigative journalists do not tend to make good storytellers. After all, they are trained to write in the taut prose of a daily newspaper, and. . .

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

How Hollywood’s biggest politicos leaned right, not left

By Jonathan Kirsch

Ronald Reagan, Shirley Temple, Sony Bono, George Murphy and Arnold Schwarzenegger are all entertainers who launched their political careers in. . .

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Psychotherapy and philosophy intersect in ‘Spinoza problem’

By Jonathan Kirsch

Around our house, Irvin D. Yalom is a familiar name, and for more than one reason.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

The last words from Tony Judt, an English, intellectual, Jew

By Jonathan Kirsch

Imagine a private conversation - at moments, an intimate conversation - between two public intellectuals whose careers have been devoted to. . .

Thursday, February 23, 2012

A celebration of women visionaries

By Jonathan Kirsch

Angella M. Nazarian's rich but provocative irony suffuses her latest book, “Pioneers of the Possible: Celebrating Visionary Women of the World”. . .

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Elizabeth Taylor as feminist

By Jonathan Kirsch

M. G. Lord is a cultural critic with a sharp eye for the hidden meanings in American pop culture. Two of her previous books, for example, considered. . .

Thursday, February 9, 2012

A Jesus even Jews can love?

By Jonathan Kirsch

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach has been accused of nothing less than apostasy by at least one of his fellow rabbis, all thanks to his newly published book,. . .

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Himmler: An ordinary man turned villain

By Jonathan Kirsch

No matter how much is written about Nazi Germany, there is always some new horror to behold and some new paradox to ponder. That’s how I felt when. . .

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Fred Weintraub: The Serendipitous Producer

By Jonathan Kirsch

Fred Weintraub is not merely an eyewitness to the history of American pop culture. As we discover in his wholly winning memoir, “Bruce Lee,. . .