Reviews with content warning for Antisemitism - People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present

A harrowing but important book examining the modern relation of how most modern non-jews knowledge of judaism comes from our deaths, not our living culture and the way that lack of knowledge fuels antisemitism. I had to sit down and just listen while listening to via audiobook, it was so gripping I couldn't do much of anything else whilst listening.

I appreciated the authors discussions on modern, ancient, and relatively recent antisemitism as well. I honestly question how much the people who rail against the authors seemingly pro-zionist leanings actually read the same book as I did, as it profoundly demonstrated exactly why zionism is a necessary ideology to modern jewish survival.

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hannah_stoch's review

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced

5.0

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bpag314's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

People Love Dead Jews is a collection of essays from author Dara Horn that reflect on tensions between the societal fascination with the holocaust and the realities of the experiences and antisemitism faced by Jewish people in their everyday lives.

This book was on My Jewish Learning's 120 Jewish Books for Every Age that popped into my email last night and the title and premise of the book instantly intrigued me.

Boy, was I not disappointed. The book was thought provoking, confronting and super informative. The range of topics covered everything from frozen towns in China, to the way society consumes Jewish literature, to Varian Fry, an American man responsible for saving many prominent Jewish artists during the holocaust. There were a few things the author touched on in her essays that I wish had gotten an essay of their own but on the whole I thought the selection was very well thought out.

The structure of the essays was coherent with a mix between essays on historical antisemitism and more modern issues highlighting the increasing antisemitism American Jews have been facing in recent years.

This is a must-read for anyone who is wanting to think more deeply about antisemitism as well as confront their own ignorances and misinformation on the issue.

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