Lisa Schiffman earned a master's degree in social anthropology from Oxford University. She was formerly the associate
editor of the San Francisco Review of Books and has published her prose in Zyzzyva, where it was nominated for
a Pushcart Prize. She works now as an Internet strategist on the Web sites of major corporations.
Review
"With a blessedly light touch, Schiffman, formerly an editor with the San Francisco Review of Books
and until recently a nonobservant Jew, relates her beginner's quest for a Judaism she can genuinely practice and
believe...(a) delightful spiritual narrative. "
--Kirkus Reviews
"Lisa Schiffman writes with the daring audacity of language and bold observations usually the private preserve
of novelists. She's a born writer and this is a terrific book."
--Kate Braverman, author of Palm Latitudes and Small Craft Warnings
"Gene ration J is the boldest book about the contemporary Jewish dilemma that I have yet to read.
It explores and finally articulates the hidden contradictions between who we are and what we call ourselves. In
doing so, it raises profound questions about not only the nature of Judaism in our wold today, but the nature of
faith, God, and worship for all."
--Lauren Slater, author of Welcome to My Country and Prozac Diaries
"This is an important book about the condition of the American Jewish spirit...This book must be read as
a challenge as well as a harbinger of hope by all who care about the Jewish future in America."
--Egon Mayer, Ph.D., director of the Jewish Outreach Institute and author of Love and Tradition: Marriage
Between Jews and Christians
"A thoughtful, ironic, and piercingly insightful view on spirituality and Judaism from an informed and
intelligent representative of Generation J...an ultimately readable treat not only for the titular generation
of Jews, but for anyone who has ever examined a personal sense of spirituality and relationship with religion.
Schiffman's quest to understand her identity as a Jew is both sincere and deeply spiritual. Yet, even in moments
of profound spiritual awareness, Schiffman never takes herself too seriously, nor does she ever lose ther ability
to see the deeply ironic, humorous aspects of her journey. It helps, of course, that Schiffman is an immensely
talented writer. Beyond her facility with words, however, Schiffman demonstrates a certain courage in gently but
insistently probing issues of ritual and belief which will surely generate controversy in the very religion she
seeks to embrace. To publicly question faith, even if the qustioning is directed inward, is to leave oneself open
to thorny criticism for there is possibly no topic that engenders such emotional extremes as that of religion.
The fact that Lisa Schiffman is able to pose these questions while underlining their universality makes Generation
J a triumph."
--San Diego Union Tribune
"Intellige nt, curious and engaged, Schiffman makes an appropriate poster child for Generation J. Her honest
portrayal of her intellectual and spiritual journey across a wide swath of the complicated terrain of American
Jewry mirrors her generation's search for meaning..."
--Jewish Week
"Seekers of the religious and spiritual, or those who are merely thoughtfully secular-minded, will find
Schiffman's musings on her strenuous efforts to understand what it means to be Jewish in the "post-Holocaust"
age provacative, insightful and funny."
-- Booklist
"Lisa Schiffman's Generation J is a remarkable account of self-discovery and self-analysis of what
it means to be a young, secular Jew in a post-Zionest world. Diaspora Jewry has become more and more aware of the
complexities and difficulties of being Jewish--not as a religious practice but as a cultural identity. Even the
majority of Jews in Israel today are the mirror image of Lisa Schiffman--secular Jews who are conscious of thier
Jewish identity but do not see it as a neccessary extension of any specific form of religious practice. Schiffman's
voice is an important one."
--Sander L. Gillman, University of Chicago, author of Difference and Pathology
"A wonderfully entertaining exploration of what it means to be a secular Jew in America today. Schiffman
asks all the relevant questions conveniently ignored by more conventional authorities and dares to go where they
fear to tread."
-- Robert Eisenberg, author of Boychicks in the Hood
"Bold, unabashed, engaging narrative..."
--Oakland Tribune
Submitted by Publishers, July, 2001
Summary
In a personal narrative at once poignant and funny, Lisa Schiffman offers an insightful, spirited inquiry into
the vagaries of faith and identity today. This exploration gets to the heart of an assimilated generation's entanglements
in the boundaries of religion and culture.
Table of Contents
1. Generation J
2. This Thing Called Intermarriage
3. The Zen of Being Jewish
4. Kikes and Queers
5. Notes from the Field
6. Judaism: The Brand
7. Stray Hairs and Painted Nails
8. The Sound of God
9. The Kabbalists
10. Kosher - Me?
11. The Gleanings
12. Exile
