A review by halschrieve
Nice Jewish Girls: A Lesbian Anthology by Evelyn Torton Beck

5.0

I read one of the earlier editions of this book, from the 1970s. It's an incredible historical document, and--thrillingly --includes fairly early work by writers like Adrienne Rich and Elana Dykewomon that would become even more prominent in their circles over the coming generations. In the early edition I read many of the contributors were Holocaust survivors or people whose families had immigrated in the years immediately preceding ; there are also some contributors from Arab countries whose families fled in the wake of anti-Jewish measures their states enacted in the wake of Israel's founding. In addition, there are a couple contributions from black Jewish women. Because the volume I read was from the 1970s, its politics concerning Israel have a markedly different tone, which is useful for me, for context. It's an incredible book that tries to do a lot of things with itself . It doesn't cover all ground , and many of its contributors have been the subject of heated debate and scrutiny, many for good reason, but it was important when it was written and is equally vital now.