A review by leandrathetbrzero
People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present by Dara Horn
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Looking for a book to read for Jewish American Heritage Month?
↓ This book inspires me to read ↓
1. The Five Books of Miriam: A Woman’s Commentary on the Torah by Ellen Frankel
2. If All The Seas Were Ink: A Memoir by Ilana Kurshan
3. Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor by Yossi Klein Halevi
Dara Horn encourages her readers to reflect on their own knowledge and preconceived notions about Judaism and historical antisemitism. Through a mixture of personal stories, research, and collected interviews, she investigates why oppression and violence toward Jews makes such a compelling, marketable narrative to non-Jewish populations. A moving, informative read, People Love Dead Jews searches for the answers to modern society’s obsession with the death of Jews.
My advice is for you to read the first chapter, which focuses on Anne Frank, everyone’s “second favorite dead Jew” as described by Horn and the person whose life on which many of us (particularly Americans) base our understanding of Jews. That chapter will convince you to read the rest and expand your knowledge about the historical oppression of Jewish people. Horn travels the world both physically and through her research of primary documents and interviews of people from various backgrounds. I feel equally more informed and motivated to keep educating myself on Jewish and Jewish American heritage. I was moved to tears multiple times, and I cannot express how grateful I am that my library had a copy of this book in its collection. I can assure you that I will be adding it as a recommendation in the Staff Picks section as often as I can!
See more on this title and others at my booktube
↓ This book inspires me to read ↓
1. The Five Books of Miriam: A Woman’s Commentary on the Torah by Ellen Frankel
2. If All The Seas Were Ink: A Memoir by Ilana Kurshan
3. Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor by Yossi Klein Halevi
Dara Horn encourages her readers to reflect on their own knowledge and preconceived notions about Judaism and historical antisemitism. Through a mixture of personal stories, research, and collected interviews, she investigates why oppression and violence toward Jews makes such a compelling, marketable narrative to non-Jewish populations. A moving, informative read, People Love Dead Jews searches for the answers to modern society’s obsession with the death of Jews.
My advice is for you to read the first chapter, which focuses on Anne Frank, everyone’s “second favorite dead Jew” as described by Horn and the person whose life on which many of us (particularly Americans) base our understanding of Jews. That chapter will convince you to read the rest and expand your knowledge about the historical oppression of Jewish people. Horn travels the world both physically and through her research of primary documents and interviews of people from various backgrounds. I feel equally more informed and motivated to keep educating myself on Jewish and Jewish American heritage. I was moved to tears multiple times, and I cannot express how grateful I am that my library had a copy of this book in its collection. I can assure you that I will be adding it as a recommendation in the Staff Picks section as often as I can!
See more on this title and others at my booktube
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Genocide, Violence, and Hate crime