Reviews

A Letter to Harvey Milk: Short Stories by Lesléa Newman

binaverklempt's review against another edition

5.0

I adored this book, it felt so deeply personal and affirming to read about life, love, coming of age, and womanhood from the point of view of Jewish lesbians. Leslea Newman captures with such beautiful and at times agonizing poignancy the infinitely multifaceted nature of love between non-men, including the growing pains of difficult periods of relationships and friendships, as well as the wonderful, hilarious, tender sweetness of it all. She also captures what it is like to grow up by oneself as a queer Jew and how it affects your relationship with your family, yourself, your faith, and the world, all while centering experiences and traditions that many american Jews will be so intimately familiar with. The ways that in so many of these stories, these traditions were shown to be celebrated with and through chosen family was especially inspiring and meaningful. I could write paragraphs retelling the different parts of stories that made me feel so seen and held that I couldn't help but cry for the characters, knowing full well that I was really crying for myself. It is such a gift to be able to have a glimpse into the lives of these characters, and in doing so having a new glimpse into my own life and new ways of naming my feelings. As the book reminds us, it is such a gift to be Jewish and to be a lesbian.

generalnoodles's review against another edition

4.0

I really enjoyed this book overall. I didn't love a couple of the short stories (especially Flashback - it just felt ridiculous to me and unattached from the trauma of actual survivors) but I also cried several times while reading this because it tugged on my heartstrings. The shabbat story, the AIDs quilt -- this was so meaningful to me and I already have plans to go back and reread the stories that spoke to me. I'm really glad that i read this.