Jewish Personalities: January 2008 Archives

This morning's Nextbook has an essay by Anderson Tepper on Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector.

Her work called to mind a tropical, female Kafka with sensory overload. As the French literary critic and philosopher Hélène Cixous put it: “I discovered an immense writer, the equivalent for me of Kafka, with something more: This was a woman, writing as a woman. I discovered Kafka and it was a woman.” Unlike Kafka’s however, Lispector’s work—though obsessed with Brazilianness and a sense of belonging—had little to say about its own Jewishness. As Grace Paley writes in the introduction to Lispector’s book of stories, Soulstorm: “I thought at one point in my reading that there was some longing for Europe, the Old World; but decided I was wrong. It was simply longing.” And according to Moacyr Scliar, Brazil’s foremost Jewish writer, Lispector “didn’t deny her Jewishness, but she didn’t push it. The reason why this happened is still the subject of discussion here in Brazil.”

    Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is one of the stars of "The Jewish Americans," the six hour documentary that is currently airing on PBS. On the first show she tells a joke apropos herself and her heritage as a Jewish American, that is both wise and true, the very definition of a Jewish Joke.
    She asks: what's the difference between a bookkeeper in the garment district and a Supreme Court Justice?
    The answer: One generation.

Rolling Stone reports that Amy Winehouse, fresh out of rehab is considering recording some Hanukkah songs, such as "Kosher Kisses" -- see below

Grammy-nominated DJ and super-producer Mark Ronson tells Rolling Stone’s Nicole Frehsee that he’s seen his most famous collaborator (other than Bob Dylan), Amy Winehouse, recently, and they discussed new music. “She’s writing songs, and we talked about getting a studio,” says Ronson. “I have to finish a few other things first, but I imagine we’ll go into the studio this year.”

Ronson also said there may be another, more unusual project in the works. “We’re talking about making a holiday record, with Christmas songs on one side and Hanukkah songs on the other,” Ronson explained. “She’s got songs called, like, ‘Kosher Kisses’ and ‘Alone Under the Mistletoe.’ She was kind of fucking around, but I was like, ‘You have all these amazing records to play for Christmas, like Motown and Carla Thomas and the Charlie Brown Christmas, and unfortunately, us Jews have nothing that cool to listen to. So we should do something.”

Mark Ronson, the DJ turned recording Artist, who most recently did a Bob Dylan remix, is from a family of talented, creative and charming folks, including sister Charlotte, a designer, uncle Gerald (British tycoon), stepfather Mick Jones (of Foreigner) and mother Anne (a whirlwind of charm) --  you can read more about him and his family in a recent story in the UK Guardian here. But if you want to see a great video, see his recording of "Valerie" with Winehouse on vocals.