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Howard Freedman

Howard Freedman

Howard Freedman is the director of the Jewish Community Library in San Francisco. All books mentioned in his column may be borrowed from the library.

From the cover of “Concealed: Memoir of a Jewish-Iranian Daughter Caught Between the Chador and America” by Esther Amini.
Posted inBooks

Family histories open new windows on historical events

Howard Freedman by Howard Freedman February 16, 2021February 17, 2021
From the cover of “The Language of Thieves: My Family's Obsession with a Secret Code the Nazis Tried to Eliminate” by Martin Puchner.
Posted inOff the Shelf

Two new books burrow into Yiddish and the ‘language of thieves’

Howard Freedman by Howard Freedman January 15, 2021January 15, 2021
From the cover of "To Be a Man" by Nicole Krauss.
Posted inOff the Shelf

Short stories deserve our attention — especially these

Howard Freedman by Howard Freedman December 21, 2020January 15, 2021
a green background with small sketches of trees all over -- and in a clearing, the title in yellow type.
Posted inOff the Shelf

‘The Lost Shtetl’ and ‘The Orchard’: 2 new novels of Jewish culture shock

Howard Freedman by Howard Freedman November 20, 2020November 23, 2020
covers of "Golem Girl" and "A Place of Exodus"
Posted inOff the Shelf

Gripping memoirs by writers who aren’t exactly famous

Howard Freedman by Howard Freedman October 23, 2020October 28, 2020
From the cover art for "The Tunnel" by A.B. Yehoshua.
Posted inOff the Shelf

New Israeli novels explore the weight of memory

Howard Freedman by Howard Freedman September 23, 2020October 14, 2020
Two new works of historical fiction: “Villa of Delirium” by Adrien Goetz and “Exile Music” by Jennifer Steil.
Posted inOff the Shelf

On the Riviera, in Bolivia … Jewish historical fiction that travels

Howard Freedman by Howard Freedman August 31, 2020October 14, 2020
Cover art for "All My Mother’s Lovers" (an abstract blue floral pattern with white type) and "Florence Adler Swims Forever" (a watercolor of a woman in a red swimsuit and swimming cap on a beach)
Posted inOff the Shelf

Secrets kept, secrets revealed as the main character dies in two debut novels

Howard Freedman by Howard Freedman July 30, 2020July 31, 2020
The covers of “The Lives of Isaac Stern” and “Life Isn't Everything: Mike Nichols, As Remembered by 150 of His Closest Friends,” both of which feature pensive black and white photos of their subjects
Posted inOff the Shelf

New biographies paint portraits of two Jewish luminaries (one with S.F. ties)

Howard Freedman by Howard Freedman July 9, 2020July 9, 2020
Posted inOff the Shelf

Daughters of Holocaust survivors uncover old stories in new memoirs

Howard Freedman by Howard Freedman June 4, 2020July 8, 2020

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