Guilt & Pleasure

NANCY UPDIKE

"Palestine Revisited"

Nancy Updike writes about the second life of a 1930s travel advert in “Palestine Revisited.” She is a contributing editor to Public Radio International’s This American Life, and her journalism has been published in The New York Times Magazine and Salon.

MARK OPPENHEIMER

"Portrait of the Holy Land as Theme Park"

Mark Oppenheimer reports from a Christian fundamentalist theme park in Orlando in “Portrait of the Holy Land as Theme Park.” His most recent book is Thirteen and a Day: The Bar and Bat Mitzvah Across America (Douglas & McIntyre). He is the editor of the New Haven Advocate.

NATHANIEL DEUTSCH

"A Plague on All Your Art Houses"

Nathaniel Deutsch’s essay “A Plague on All Your Art Houses” looks at the Hasidic concept of holy space. His latest book is The Maiden of Ludmi (University of California Press). Forthcoming books include The Tribe of Ishmael: Orientalism, Eugenics, and the Invention of America’s First “Muslim” Community (Harvard University Press).

JONATHAN GOLDSTEIN

"Messiah in a Bottle"

Jonathan Goldstein had just relocated to his native Montreal from Chicago when he wrote the memoir “Messiah in a Bottle.” Goldstein is the host and executive producer of CBC Radio’s WireTap, a contributing editor to Public Radio International’s This American Life, and author of the novel Lenny Bruce Is Dead.

YIRMI PINKUS

"Malopolska"

Yirmi Pinkus created the comic “Malopolska” for Guilt & Pleasure after returning from a trip to Poland last year. He is a member of Actus Independent Comics, an Israeli quintet of graphic novelists, and is the opera critic for the Tel Aviv weekly Ha-Ir.

JESSE AARON COHEN

"Holiday in Latvia"

Jesse Aaron Cohen compiled the material for this issue’s Archives section (“Holiday in Latvia”). He is a photo and film archivist at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York, and keyboardist for the Brooklyn band Professor Murder.

JOSH KUN

"The Last Resort"

Josh Kun wrote part of his letter from Palm Springs (“The Last Resort”) in his grandparents’ for-sale home in the Canyon Country Club. His first book, Audiotopia: Music, Race, and America, has recently been published by the University of California Press.

ETGAR KERET

"Surprise Egg"

Etgar Keret’s story “Surprise Egg” was originally written in Hebrew. His latest collection of stories, The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God, was recently published in English by Toby Press. His stories have been translated into twenty-three languages.

MICHAEL BERKOWITZ

"Picture a Nation"

Michael Berkowitz introduces a portfolio of mid-century Israeli poster art with the essay “Picture a Nation.” His books include The Jewish Self-Image (Reaktion Books). He is the president-elect of the British Association for Jewish Studies and a professor of Jewish history at University College London.

ROSE GEORGE

"The Ghetto, Less Gritty"

Rose George wrote “The Ghetto, Less Gritty” after looking at controversial photographs of Jews in the Lodz ghetto with some of its survivors. She is the author of A Life Removed: Hunting for Refuge in the Modern World (Penguin). Her writing has appeared in the Guardian, The Economist and The Sunday Telegraph.

JEFFREY SHANDLER

"Next Year in the Pampas!"

Jeffrey Shandler writes about Jewish utopias in the essay “Next Year in the Pampas!” His books include While America Watches: Televising the Holocaust (Oxford University Press). Forthcoming books include Adventures in Yiddishland (University of California Press ).

ROGER BENNETT

"The Boiling Point"

Roger Bennett is the co-producer of A Game of Two Halves, a documentary film about the Arab-Israeli soccer team, which will be completed this year. While filming in Israel, he kept a shoot diary (“The Boiling Point”) for G&P. He is co-author of the book Bar Mitzvah Disco (Crown Books).