The Modern Jewish Girl's Guide to Guilt

A hilarious and provocative collection of original essays by some of toda‛s top Jewish women writers—including Aimee Bender, Daphne Merkin, and Rebecca Walker—exploring all the things that their rabbis warned them never to discuss in public.

Have you ever heard a grandmothe‛s biological clock tick? Are you certain that a piano is about to fall on your head, simply because too many good things have happened to you lately? Would your own mother out you as a lesbian at her Yiddish club? The Modern Jewish Gir‛s Guide to Guilt is a laugh-out-loud funny pull-no-punches collection of original essays on topics that are‛t usually talked about—much like the recent bestselling anthology The Bitch in the House.

o Molly Jong-Fast, author of Normal Girl and daughter of Erica Jong, writes about displeasing her therapist in“Tell Me About Your Mother”

o Tova Mirvis, author of the bestselling novel The Ladies Auxiliary, writes about the pressure to be perfect in“What Will They Think”

o Lori Gottlieb, author of the bestselling memoir Stick Figure, writes about trying to outwit her mother using caller ID in“Conversations with My Mother”

Also includes pieces by: Jennifer Bleyer · Pearl Gluck · Rebecca Goldstein · Lauren Grodstein · Dara Horn · Rachel Kadish · Cynthia Kaplan · Binnie Kirschenbaum · Ellen Miller · Katie Rophie · Laurie Gwen Shapiro · Susan Shapiro · Ayelet Waldman, and many more.

"Rabbi's daughter Ellenson's wide-ranging and thought-provoking collection touches on familiar-mothers, marriage and bacon-as well as less obvious, but equally potent, sources of guilt. In one of the strongest essays, Susan Shapiro explains how she's done what most women only fantasize about: declined social engagements and cut back on granting favors so she can do what she wants. It's selfish, she admits, but she's happier. Binnie Kirshenbaum manages to retain a sense of humor despite being greeted with 'When are you going to grow up and have a family?' whenever talk turns to her childlessness. Humor is a staple for many of Ellenson's writers, among them Lori Gottlieb, whose 'loving but lethal' mother seems to have been pulled from central casting. But Gottlieb captures the right tone, and the result is fresh and funny. As is Sharon Brous' recollection of being reprimanded by a religious Jew for placing an unopened bottle of salad dressing on a kitchen counter. 'I was mortified and guilt-ridden-as much by my stupid mistake as by the fact that I didn't understand half the words she was shouting at me.' Her solution: she is now a rabbi. That won't work for everyone, but given the variety of approaches offered here, most readers will find something to help assuage their guilty consciences. " Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

A hip, hilarious, and provocative collection of original essays by young Jewish women writers, including Aimee Bender, Daphne Merkin, Dara Horn, Tova Mirvis, Rebecca Goldstein, and Molly Jong-Fast, exploring all the things that their rabbis warned them never to discuss in public. 320 ppo.

Ruth Andrew Ellenson was born in Jerusalem and raised in New York and Los Angeles. A graduate of Columbia University's MFA program, her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, People, Forward, and Heeb. She lives with her husband in Los Angeles and is at work on a novel.