Gordis will make you think about other interesting questions -- what does it mean to have a home? Can one live a meaningful Jewish life outside Israel? How does one justify where one lives (or doesn't live)? Gordis is of two minds on many of these questions -- for example, he states several times that he's not suggesting all Jews are morally obligated to move to Israel, but at the same time, he does in fact suggest that meaningful Jewish life is possible only if it is at risk (see, e.g., page 259). Gordis seems to be utterly befuddled by the idea of secular Israelis or secular Jews (for example, at pages 66-67, where he asks "what is the point?" of having this country if it's not religious) -- apparently ignoring the fact that there would be no State of Israel without the secular Zionists. (For an interesting look at combining secular values with the religious and cultural heritage of Judaism, read "From Jerusalem to the Edge of Heaven," by Ari Elon.)

It is not surprising that Gordis fails to offer any solutions to what are obviously very complicated problems. Where it seems to me that the book really fails is in the limited range of viewpoints it presents. Perhaps because the book originated in personal emails to family and friends, it consists almost entirely of Gordis' personal observations and angst, his own questioning of himself, his values and his actions. His wife and children are present only as foils, for Gordis to react to something they've said, done or experienced. I did not come away with any sense of who they are or what any of them really think. Secular, Orthodox and Palestinian viewpoints are barely mentioned (of these, the best represented are the Palestinians, interestingly enough, although mostly to illustrate Israeli failures). At the end, it's hard to say whether you've learned much about the state of Israel today or if you've just learned something about one man's viewpoint. And although that viewpoint develops somewhat over time, the constant hammering away at the same issues becomes tiring by the end by the book (again, if you read one email/chapter every few weeks, it probably wouldn't be nearly so bad).

Despite these significant qualifications, the book is generally well written, a quick read, and I am giving it extra credit for presenting a point of view we seldom get to see and for making me think about the questions he raises.

In the past, I have had opinions as to what Israel should or shoould not do to make peace, but this book highlights better than anything else what the daunting reality is vis-a-vis a solution. While we may all "pray for the peace in Jerusalem," the reality is that more than prayer is needed, and there may not be A single solution or long-term peace -- at least not without other Arab countries stepping in.

This is an extremely well-written, highly enlightening book, and the next time I hear anyone stating a firm opinion as to what Israel should do, I'm going to recommend they read this before the spout off again!

Highly recommended, not only for first-time visitors to a region, but for natives to learn more about the beauty and history right in their own backyard.

Unlike some other reviewers, I haven't had any problem with the one illustration showing one band member (of many) smoking a cigarette. The truth is, back in the 30s, most people DID smoke. It's just another opportunity to talk about how smoking (and big bands) have gone out of fashion since then.

This book is a welcome respite from talking bears and sickly-sweet tales. I highly recommend it.

In my opinion, the best part of this book is chapters 7 and 8. Chapter talks about "Nature and Nurture." Nature is very much stronger a factor on intelligence than environment (or nurture). Chapter 8 talks about identical twins separated at birth and raised in very different environments, and after dozens of years reunited. Psychologists discovered that these twins have very similar IQs, personality, and characters. This proves that intelligence and personality are 'encoded' in our genes.

This is an excellent book for anyone interested in understanding not only about IQ and its debates, but also about why many social engineering prgrams failed.

In my view, intelligence is given by God. Those of us who have more should not be proud, because we did not sweat to get it. Those of us who have less should not feel ashamed. We all need to work hard throughout our lives and respect one another. All are precious in the eyes of God.

It is too bad that this book is out of print, but many low-value books are popular. I recommend this book to anyone who is open-minded.

Steve Sailer

If this doesn't change their minds, then you may want to dig that 'mad-money' out from the mattress and run like hell.

This is one of those books where the conclusion is at the beginning, with the remainder of the book detailing the events that led up to the climax of the story.

The book describes the events leading up to the wedding of Solomon Beneviste and Allison Pennybaker. He is Jewish and she is Catholic, which is where the problems begin - not for them, but for their respective families.

It is written as a set of short chapters, each being an excerpt from the diary of one of the three women in the book (the bride, her mother and the grooms mother). Someone (the author? the publisher?) decided to allocate a different typeface to alternate chapters, so it is obvious when there is a change of narrator.

Like all good books, this one makes you think - who exactly benefits from the large and elaborate weddings that are organized for those couples who choose a 'traditional' marriage ceremony?

A quirky book and nothing like the other book of his that I have read (Hell on Wheels), but an interesting read nonetheless. The short chapters also ensure that it is easy to pick up and put down at short notice.

For those who like their satire black, this compulsively readable comic novel is a deliciously dark dose. Weiss takes the awkward and contemporary dance of intermarriage and gleefully ups the stakes until it's transformed into a fiery, high-stakes tango set to the tune of theSpanish Inquisition.

The trouble all begins when white-bread WASP Allison Pennybaker and Sephardic Jew Solomon Beneviste announce their engagement. Allison's family gets busy planning an overpriced church wedding that appalls Solomon's intense mother, Miriam. She meanwhile, is occupied creating her own gift for the ill-fated couple -- a family tree that traces the bizarre Beneviste genealogy all the way back to the era of the autos-da-fe.

Using squeaky, callow Allision and coolly singleminded Miriam as his narrators, Weiss spins a horrifyingly funny, take-no-prisoners tale in which the past rumbles to life, rearing its head up through the green lawns of American suburbia to curse this interfaith engagement of two innocents. He playfully uses biblical references and other allusions to artfully braiding a black chapter in Jewish history into the present action, and the results are tragicomic. Allison's plump and pompous mother, Louise, is a modern-day reincarnation of Torquemada. A scene where Miriam swoons during a beer-soaked all-American baseball game played by athletes with Spanish surnames is a particularly pleasurable set piece.

While keeping all his satirical balls in the air, Weiss displays some remarkable gifts. He plays nimbly with societal stereotypes of WASPs and Jews. The Pennybakers and Benevistes are complex, delightfully unselfconscious and eminently credible. They're immeasurably enriched by Weiss's uncanny and chameleonic talent for writing in a wide range of voices. "The Swine's Wedding" is one of the most original books to come around in a long time: richly symbolic, brilliantly built, witty and disturbing.

The Swine's Wedding surpasses that image.

Daniel Evan Weiss is expert at realistic characterization: People in his books say and touching at once. The protagonists and their parents can be loved and hated, and the reader can develop mixed emotions as the plot progresses.

This is a book that stays with you after you put it down.

Her characters were believable and people anyone could relate to. I loved Arthur; he felt like a good, strong, warm father/grandfather type.

I must admit to laying awake at night staring at the cedar chest in my bedroom a few times, kind of scared to close my eyes.

As in her previous book, "Lafitte's Lady" the author managed to catch my attention and hold it througout the book so that I hated to put the book away.

Looking forward to anything this author might write; I've loved her style on her first two books.