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More copies of this ISBNeBook editionsBagels and Grits: A Jew on the Bayouby Jennifer Anne Moses
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Jennifer Anne Moses left behind a comfortable life in the upper echelons of East Coast Jewish society to move with her husband and children to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Searching for connection to her surroundings, she decided to volunteer at an AIDS hospice. But as she encountered a culture populated by French Catholics and Evangelical Christians, African Americans and Cajuns, altruistic nurses and nuns, ex-cons, street-walkers, impoverished AIDS patients, and healers of all stripes, she found she had embarked on an unexpected journey of profound self-discovery. In a keenly observed memoir that embraces both pathos and humor, Moses takes us into a world that is strange and sad but also suffused with the holy. As witness to dire poverty and extreme adversity, Moses discovers a deeper commitment to her own faith—Judaism that asks not for blind belief, but rather daily commitment. She recounts the challenges of taking on a life committed to God in a postmodern world that has little use for the divine. Telling her story of redemption with an honesty that goes right for the guts, she leaves the reader with new hope.
Outstanding Book, selected by the American Association of School Librarians, and Best Books for Regional Special Interests, selected by the Public Library Association Review:"In an absorbing memoir, Moses (Food and Whine) describes her disorienting move from Washington, D.C., to Baton Rouge, a city home to a paltry 220 or so Jewish families. Moses, who had a strong Jewish identity but little connection to religious practice, found herself grappling with her new city's intense Christianity: just about everyone was on intimate terms with Jesus. Moses's move to Baton Rouge, coupled with her mother's deteriorating health, prompted her to study Hebrew and celebrate her bat mitzvah, which she had not done as a girl. Yet this book is not just a spiritual autobiography. It is also an account of a daughter struggling toward the end of her mother's life — chemotherapy and cancer haunt every page. Moses's prose is lyrical and fresh: her daughter, for instance, is 'so content within her skin that it's as if she'd been born with the soul of a shaman,' and Moses's childhood, in which tennis games, ski trips and her parents' cocktail parties all somehow culminated in Shabbat dinner, was 'like living in a John Cheever novel edited by Isaac Bashevis Singer.' Moses has a vivid sense of humor and never takes herself too seriously. After finishing this book, readers may wish they could sit down over a bagel and grits and visit with her." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) About the AuthorJennifer Anne Moses is a writer living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Her essays, reporting, reviews, and travel and opinion pieces have appeared frequently in the New York Times, Washington Post, Baton Rouge Advocate, Notre Dame Magazine, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Salon, Mademoiselle, Commentary, and many other popular publications. She is the author of the book Food and Whine: Confessions of a New Millennium Mom. In addition to her work as a writer and mother, she volunteers at St. Anthony’s Home, a residence for AIDS patients in Baton Rouge, and teaches Hebrew at Beth Shalom Synagogue. What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
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