The State of Jewish Books with Ruth Wisse and Adam Bellow

Adam Bellow· Guest0:00

[upbeat music] Sometimes I feel like it's not doing a lot to publish books, but on the other hand, it's all I can do, and it gives me some sense of doing something.

Ruth Wisse· Guest0:08

[upbeat music] The Jewish people exist by virtue of one thing, literature.

David Wolpe· Host0:17

Welcome back to Sapir Conversations, where we discuss the best ideas for a thriving Jewish future. I'm your host, Rabbi David Wolpe. Welcome to our 100th episode. On the heel of Sapir's recent fifth anniversary, we've spent five years exploring the future of the American Jewish community through thought-provoking essays, so it is only fitting that today's episode is about writing. And, I dare say, it is thought-provoking. I spoke to literary scholar Ruth Wisse and publisher Adam Bellow to examine the vast changes in the world of American culture and letters since our last major anniversary in 1976. That was an era in which a triumvirate of Jewish American novelists could be found on living room bookshelves across the United States in Jewish and non-Jewish homes alike. Readers of Bernard Malamud's 1952 debut novel, The Natural, will never forget the mythical tale of baseball prodigy Roy Hobbs. Saul Bellow came onto the scene the following year with his first major novel, The Adventures of Augie March, before being hailed as a literary idol with my favorite of his novels,