Virtually Jewish: Reinventing Jewish Culture in Europe Hardcover - 2002 - 1st Edition

First line

In the early 1920s ,the Viennese journalist Hugo Bettauer wrote a novel that at the time must have seemed little more than a satiri excursion into a science fiction-style parallel universe.

From the rear cover

"A richly documented and insightful deliberation on the dilemma of what to do in places where Jewish culture once flourished, but Jews are no longer to be found or are very few in number.... Even where there seems to be a resurgence of Jewish life, it is fragile and fraught. At the same time, Jews from the United States and Israel have their own problematic relationship to the killing fields of Europe and to efforts to 'preserve' the last traces of a Jewish past. This is an altogether fascinating subject and no one is better prepared to write about it than Gruber."--Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, author of Destination Culture

"Virtually Jewish is a riveting exploration of a significant contemporary phenomenon. Half a century after the Holocaust and a decade after the fall of Communism, Europeans are grappling with the legacies of their past as they seek to redefine who they are. Combining firsthand reporting and informed analysis, Ruth Ellen Gruber opens the door to a fascinating and sometimes troubling reality. Above all, it's a good read."--Sylvia Poggioli, Senior European Correspondent, National Public Radio

"Ruth Gruber is absolutely the right person to describe the manufacture of virtual Jewish culture in present-day Europe. The phenomenon is tangled, fluid, and ever-changing, but this book, crammed with acute observations, unravels the subject and pins it down brilliantly. Here is a veritable gold mine of descriptive data. Subtle and nuanced in its presentation... Virtually Jewish is required reading for anyone interested in the contemporary Jewish world and will doubtless fascinate many people far beyond it."--Jonathan Webber, University of Oxford

"Virtually Jewish brilliantly and insightfully examines the big picture of Jewish culture in Europe today. Essential reading for anyone seriously interested in this topic, especially as it relates to the current klezmer music scene."--David Krakauer of Klezmer Madness!, internationally renowned musician and recording artist

Media reviews

Citations

• Choice, 07/01/2002, Page 2013
• Multicultural Review, 09/01/2002, Page 102
• Publishers Weekly, 11/26/2001, Page 52