Far to Go, by Alison Pick, Harper Perennial, 308 pages, paperback, $14.99.

Reviewed by ROBIN DOROSHOW

Following the dedication page and before the beginning of the first chapter, Alison Pick’s Far to Go lists a dozen names of people and their years of birth and death. The first eight individuals on the list have dates [...]

Comedy in a Minor Key, by Hans Keilson, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 135 pages, $13
Reviewed by NEAL GENDLER
For many Jews, comedy — even in the constant unease of a minor key — won’t mean laughing aloud while reading Hans Keilson’s charming novella about a young Dutch couple hiding a Jew during the war.
The [...]

Yuval Ron Ensemble will welcome local Jewish performers, and others, for a concert in Stillwater
By DORIS RUBENSTEIN
Jews in Stillwater? Yes, there’s a small Jewish community on the St. Croix River, but on Sunday night, Jan. 22, the Jewish population in the “birthplace of Minnesota” is likely to boom thanks to Yuval Ron.
Israel-born, Los [...]

Adapted from the acclaimed bestseller by Jewish writer Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a story that unfolds from inside the young mind of Oskar Schell, an inventive 11-year-old New Yorker. The film opens nationwide on Jan. 20.
Oskar’s discovery of a key in his deceased father’s belongings sets him off [...]

The Sabes JCC will present the third annual Minneapolis Jewish Humor Festival Jan. 14-28. The two-week Fringe-like festival of one-person shows, stand-up comedy, improv, workshops, storytelling, film and special events — featuring local and national talent — will celebrate the Jewish contribution to the world of humor.
Opening night will feature award-winning comedian Julie [...]

Out of Palestine: The Making of Modern Israel, by Hadara Lazar, Atlas & Co., 320 pages, $25.95

Reviewed by NEAL GENDLER

Haifa-born Hadara Lazar calls Britain’s Palestine Mandate a period of great expectations, “central to the Israeli myth,” but for her, both real and undefined.
So over a quarter-century, she interviewed people who lived through it [...]

Ravid Kahalani and his musical comrades in Yemen Blues meld disparate influences into a compelling smörgåsbord of sounds
By MORDECAI SPECKTOR
Ravid Kahalani, the vocalist for the group Yemen Blues, is from Tel Aviv — and lives part of the year in Finland. I can’t recall ever interviewing any Israelis in Finland, but Kahalani talked [...]

A Convenient Hatred: The History of Antisemitism, by Phyllis Goldstein, Facing History and Ourselves, 432 pages, $17.95
Reviewed by NEAL GENDLER
What do you say when the young son you’ve just put to bed looks up at you and says: “Daddy, why does everybody hate us?”
I gave the usual answers, starting with “not everybody hates [...]

Hanuka cover art by Levi Feller, winner of the 2011/5772 AJW Hanuka Cover Contest.

Keep reading for more on the artist and artworks by the runners-up.

Park Square Theatre brings back Gershwin show written by local musician Joe Vass
By ERIN ELLIOTT BRYAN / Community News Editor
Joe Vass has always loved the music of composer George Gershwin, and other songwriters from the early to mid-20th century — music from what is known as the Great American Songbook. But when [...]