With their trademark quirky perspective, authors Lisa Birnbach, Ann Hodgman, and Patricia Marx have created yet another surefire hit! More Info About 1,003 Great Things About Being Jewish From the trio responsible for the successful 1,003 series-comes 1,003 Great Things About Being Jewish, the perfect humorous gift book to celebrate being Jewish. Just a sampling of the gems within: * They say Aunt Rose's matzo balls could sink a ship . . . in case you're interested in doing that. * Everyone knows that kosher hot dogs rule. * A Hanukkah bush is a lot easier to bring home than a Christmas tree. * Cool-looking blue and silver wrapping paper instead of red and green. * Where else does a 13-year-old get to say, "Today, I am a man"? * "The remarkable thing about my mother is that for 30 years, she served nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found. -Calvin Trillin 1,003 Great Things About Being Jewish is sure to have everyone smiling, laughing, and appreciating all things Jewish.

"This funny, inspiring, and uplifting collection reminds us that most of the best things in life are still free."--Back.

Three witty and wise women--Birnbach, Ann Hodgman, and Patricia Marx--deliver yet another hysterical list of 1,003 great things. Each writer has a unique and much appreciated take on being a modern-day woman.

Rachel Shabi was born in Israel to Jewish Iraqi parents. When she was a child her family emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1974. Their leaving reversed the spiritual trek of the Jewish Diaspora, around the world whose members wistfully repeat at the Passover tables, "Next year in Jerusalem." Years later, in fact, Shabi went back to visit and to live for an extended period, but her attitude toward her former homeland is conflicted by the longstanding discrimination suffered by Arab Jews in Israel. Shortly after its creation, Israel accepted close to one million Jews from Arab lands-from Yemen, Egypt, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey. Mizrahi (Middle Eastern) Jews now make up around 50% of Israel's population. Yet Ashkenazi Jews have traditionally disparaged the Mizrahi as "backward" and have systematically limited their opportunities in the classroom and the workplace. "There is a class split," writes Shabi, "that runs on ethnic lines." She traces the history of how the Jewish Disapora lived alongside Muslims and Christians for centuries, and how the dream of Jewish solidarity within Israel in the mid-20th century was fractured by ethnic discrimination as pernicious as racism in the United States, Great Britain, and other parts of the world. Shabi combines scholarly research with intimate oral history to shed light on ethnic injustice, and her personal story and passion make We Look Like the Enemy a stunning, unforgettable book.

In A Fine Romance, David Lehman looks at the formation of the American songbook—the timeless numbers that became jazz standards, iconic love songs, and sound tracks to famous movies—and explores the extraordinary fact that this songbook was written almost exclusively by Jews. An acclaimed poet, editor, and cultural critic, David Lehman hears America singing—with a Yiddish accent. He guides us through America in the golden age of song, when “Embraceable You,” “White Christmas,” “Easter Parade,” “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man,” “My Romance,” “Cheek to Cheek,” “Stormy Weather,” and countless others became nothing less than the American sound track. The stories behind these songs, the shows from which many of them came, and the shows from which many of them came, and the composers and lyricists who wrote them give voice to a specifically American saga of love, longing, assimilation, and transformation. Lehman’s analytical skills, wit, and exuberance infuse this book with an energy and a tone like no other: at once sharply observant, personally searching, and attuned to the songs that all of us love. He helps us understand how natural it should be that Wizard of Oz composer Harold Arlen was the son of a cantor who incorporated “Over the Rainbow” into his Sabbath liturgy, and why Cole Porter—the rare non-Jew in this pantheon of musicians who wrote these classic songs shaped America even as America was shaping them. (Part of the Jewish Encounter series)

The author of "The Official Preppy Handbook" evaluates the world of preppies thirty years later, tracing how this generation has adapted to such modern challenges as the Internet, cell phones, and political correctness.