Cool Jew: The Ultimate Guide for Every Member of the Tribe

by Lisa Alcalay Klug

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112	30	245,461	(3.71)	25
It's never been hipper to be Jewish." --VH1 Cool Jew does for gefilte fish and matzah balls what the Preppy Handbook did for plaid and polo-only with much more chutzpah. Cool Jew: The Ultimate Guide for Every Member of the Tribe by Lisa Alcalay Klug delivers the kosher response to The Preppy Handbook. --Publishers Weekly Cool Jew covers everything Hebraic from womb to tomb, finally putting an end to Christmas tree envy. Short essays, lists, instructional guides, photographs, and original illustrations celebrate Jewish cultural pride with love, enthusiasm, and irreverence. Entries ranging from "Heebonics for the Yiddish Impaired" to "Self-Help for the Christmas Carole Intolerant" provide the long-awaited Jewish response to that WASP manual of the '80s, The Preppy Handbook. In addition to cultural hilarity, Cool Jew features resourceful back-of-the-book material, including "People of Da Book" (authoritative texts on Jewish concepts and culture), the "Heebster Jewke Box" (tunes that rock the Heebster vibe), and the "Tribe Online" (an extensive listing of Jewish Web resources).… (more)

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Showing 1-5 of 32 (next | show all)

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

I think I wasn't the ideal audience for this book. I didn't enjoy the humor style and I found it hard to get through. I think I made it about 1/3 of the way through the book before giving up. I don’t have any intention of going back to it.

remonkey | Jan 3, 2011 |

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Didn't like this book at all. I found it to be sophomoric and insulting. Not sure what I'm going to do with it now.

shainamaydel | Jan 18, 2010 |

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Surprisingly comprehensive and informative introduction to modern Jewish life, whether lived as a cultural or religious affiliation. (

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Becca562 | Sep 7, 2008 |

Cool Jew is exactly that - an affirmation that being an authentic Jew today is very cool, and hard to contain in a stodgy academic essay. Klug has managed to provide serious substance in an incredible new medium. Reading and playing with this book feels like a visit to the right kind of cosmopolitan center where everything-Jewish meets everything-else-Jewish, where the reader is in dialogue both with history and with self. There are even moments in which the Divine might be peeking out both from the pages and from the reader's eyes, wide open in laughter, relfection and curiosity. Klug is a modern-day Rashi, translating ancient Heebster wisdom for tomorrow.

rabbicreditor | Sep 2, 2008 |

It's ridiculous, it's silly, it's deep, profound, informative. It is a door, an opening, a motivation. this book is not just about itself, it is about its movement. all the pieces of information, sprinkled over the pages with a sort of divine but hardened humor, are an introduction for folks without any sense of jewish experience, as well as a reintroduction for those who have known it before, and a playful reminder for those of us who live it every day. the book is a ticket into the resurgence of people who are reclaiming their cultural identity - but with the jewish hipster culture in particular. yasher koach!! in strength to the author and all of us! (

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wendykenin | Sep 2, 2008 |

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National Jewish Book Award (Finalist – Contemporary Jewish Life and Practice – 2008)

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It's never been hipper to be Jewish." --VH1 Cool Jew does for gefilte fish and matzah balls what the Preppy Handbook did for plaid and polo-only with much more chutzpah. Cool Jew: The Ultimate Guide for Every Member of the Tribe by Lisa Alcalay Klug delivers the kosher response to The Preppy Handbook. --Publishers Weekly Cool Jew covers everything Hebraic from womb to tomb, finally putting an end to Christmas tree envy. Short essays, lists, instructional guides, photographs, and original illustrations celebrate Jewish cultural pride with love, enthusiasm, and irreverence. Entries ranging from "Heebonics for the Yiddish Impaired" to "Self-Help for the Christmas Carole Intolerant" provide the long-awaited Jewish response to that WASP manual of the '80s, The Preppy Handbook. In addition to cultural hilarity, Cool Jew features resourceful back-of-the-book material, including "People of Da Book" (authoritative texts on Jewish concepts and culture), the "Heebster Jewke Box" (tunes that rock the Heebster vibe), and the "Tribe Online" (an extensive listing of Jewish Web resources).

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