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About the Author ~ Shalom Auslander
Shalom Auslander was raised as an Orthodox Jew in Spring Valley, New York. His writing has been published in the New Yorker and Esquire, among other magazines. He lives in upstate New York with his wife and son.
Exclusive Amazon.co.uk Interview with Shalom Auslander
What is
I was raised in a small ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in New York; picture a madrasa somewhere in Taliban Town, change the head coverings to yarmulkes, switch the Korans for Old Testaments and that’s pretty much it. The book is about my life under the thumb of an abusive, belligerent God, and the long-term emotionally crippling effects the fundamentalism of my youth has had and continues to have upon me. But funny. I suppose it didn’t help that my father on Earth was as abusive as my Father in Heaven. Good times, good times.
What inspired you to write it?
Anger. Four years ago, my wife and I went to a doctor, and the doctor put gel on my wife’s belly, and then the doctor said, "It’s a boy." And instead of being excited – instead of picking out little footballs or infant-sized Valentino Rossi shirts – I spent the evening terrified: Should I circumcise him or not? What will God do if I don’t? Will He kill me? Will He kill my son? Will He kill my son first, just so I experience that agony, and then kill me? When will He kill my wife? And then that fear turned to anger, and I thought, "Maybe I should write this down. Maybe I should tell someone what this feels like." And so I did.
Who are your literary influences?
I have no idea – I know who I like, I know who inspires me (Kafka, Beckett, Celine, Voltaire), but whether they influence my writing or not is for someone else to decide.
If you could recommend just one "must-read book" to anyone, what would it be and why?
I would recommend anything by me. This is because I’m self-centered, and broke.
What top tips do you have for anyone looking to write their first book?
Don’t. The only ones worth writing are the ones that tell the deepest, darkest truths about life and humanity, and the only way you can discover that is discover the deepest, darkest truths about yourself. Totally not worth it. Buy a flatscreen TV and an Xbox, stop looking inward and float through life, plump, shallow and happy. It will all be over soon, and you’ll thank me when it is.
Reviews for Foreskin's Lament
We are not the only ones to love this book. Check out a selection of reviews below.
Unforgettable . . . [Auslander is] America's hottest, funniest, most controversial young Jewish memoirist . . . I challenge even the most disapproving of his parents' friends to read this blackly hilarious, groundbreaking memoir without wiping tears of both kinds from their eyes. The Times
Outrageously funny . . . Dazzling . . . Raw brilliance infused with classic Jewish irony . . . This is indeed a lament, but a lament with attitude. Sunday Telegraph
Hilarious and devastating . . . Few books really are laugh-out-loud funny. This one is. The comic timing is perfect and, as with all the best Jewish jokes, the pain behind the humour is apparent . . . Fascinating. Naomi Alderman, Sunday Times
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.Review
a"New York Times Book Review"
aAuslander writes like Philip Rothas angry nephew... a scathing theological rant, a funny, oddly moving coming-of-age memoir, and an irreverent meditation on family, marriage, and cultural identity. God may be a bit irritated by this book, but I loved it.a
aTom Perrotta, author of "Little Children" and "The Abstinence Teacher"
aA laugh-out-loud quarrel with God.a
a"Newsweek"
aA terrific book I was sad I read in so few sittings, because I wanted more.a
a"San Francisco Chronicle"
aHilarious, caustic, and surprisingly moving.a
a"Philadelphia Inquirer"
aBlasphemous and funny.a
a "Newsweek"
aA surprise and delight.a
a"Boston Globe"
aA fretful, self-effacing, bittera]hilarious story.a
a"The Houston Chronicle"
aWryly comic.a
a"New York Magazine"
aHilarious, caustic, and surprisingly moving.a
a"Philadelphia Inquirer"
aA very funny memoir.a
a"GQ"
aLyrical, hystericala] funny and angry.a
a"Cleveland Plain Dealer"
aAn audacious, poke-God-in-theeye memoir.a
a"Miami Herald"
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The truth shall (not?) set you free,
By
This review is from: Foreskin's Lament (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
Although this is specifically about growing up in an Orthodox Jewish environment, it has wider implications: the deadening hand of all fundamentalist religions, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, whatever; indeed of any rigid belief system. It's funny and occasionally foul-mouthed but it contains brutal, serious truths as well. Strongly recommended, and not just for those who've prayed for forgiveness over that treyfe bacon butty.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Running scared from religion,
By
This review is from: Foreskin's Lament (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
At roughly two thirds through Shalom Auslander's "Foreskin's Lament" the author explains in a letter he is trying to write to his unborn son:
"I know it doesn't make sense. I know I shouldn't believe it. I know, and I know, and I know, but I just can't seem to get this Character out of my head. I've tried to forget, I've tried to reframe Him, to rewrite Him, to move on. I read Sam Harris. I read Richard Dawkins. It all makes sense, but none of it helps. Maybe I am beyond help". This really is the crux of book. One man's battle with the ultraconservative religious conditioning he received growing up as an Orthodox Jew in Spring Valley, New York. However, don't expect a complete overt ridiculing of religion - although it is far from respectful - this is a battle that is set to end one way: in negotiations. This is a continuation of the theme Auslander began in his debut book, "Beware of God" and uses the same very humorous commentary style. It is this particular style that makes the whole book reads more like a therapy session than a biographical work with the author shifting between the impending birth of his first child and his experiences growing up in Spring Valley; his time spent studying in Israel, his work as a "shomer" (a watcher of dead bodies) and his eventual casting out of his community. There are plenty of times when you read the work tongue-in-cheek; wondering if this is really the work of an atheist putting across an irreverently satirical idea. The repression and hypocrisies of his family juxtaposed with their holier than thou veneers comes across as classic irreligious farce. It is arguable that Auslander uses God as a disguised metaphor for the very nature of his family and his particular community. However, Auslander's discussions, particularly with his wife, Orli, who regularly remarks "They really did a number on you", are very convincing. You genuinely feel for the idea of a person fighting against his early programming through over devotion then rebellion, a return to devotion and finally an acceptance of a type compromise outside his cultural group. "Foreskin's Lament" is very amusing from start to finish - full of quotable lines that would move even the staunchest theologian - and despite the word "irreverent" popping up in the majority of reviews I did not find any intentional malice directed at anyone, not even God.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A wisecracking Dave Pelzer,
By
This review is from: Foreskin's Lament (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
Like most books billed as hilariously funny, "Foreskin's Lament" is less amusing than you'd hope. It's actually quite sad. It's Shalom Auslander's memoir of his miserable childhood as an Orthodox Jew, which he recalls with (dare I say it) a slightly suspicious level of anecdotal detail.
It was miserable, we learn, not so much because of the Orthodox Judaism, but primarily because Shalom was abused physically and verbally by his father and rabbi. Though Auslander comes out with some good gags as he ridicules Jewish tradition, and though the book is written in a light-hearted tone reminiscent of Bill Bryson, it is ultimately a grim memoir from the Dave Pelzer school. As such, it makes for awkward reading.
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