Foreskin's Lament - Shalom Auslander

*Please note this was first written as an Amazon Vine review by me on my blog "Beelzebub's Broker"l * At roughly two thirds through Shalom Auslander's "Foreskin's Lament" the author explains in a letter he is trying to write to his unborn son: "I know it doesn't make sense. I know I shouldn't believe it. I know, and I know, and I know, but I just can't seem to get this Character out of my head. I've tried to forget, I've tried to reframe Him, to rewrite Him, to move on. I read Sam Harris. I read Richard Dawkins. It all makes sense, but none of it helps. Maybe I am beyond help". This really is the crux of ...  Read the complete review

I'm a sucker for bizarre titles. I first came across Shalom Auslander's novel in a review in a German newspaper, "Oh, no," I thought, "they've done it again." Germans are the world champions when it comes to translating foreign book and film titles in the most idiotic way. Later I learnt, though, that the translation was correct, that the title was indeed Foreskin's Lament. With the name Shalom Auslander on the cover it's clear that the lamenting foreskin is a Jewish one. The novel is an autobiographic account of the author's childhood and youth in an ultra orthodox family in an ultra orthodox community about 30 miles north of Manhattan and ...  Read the complete review