Here Where We Live Is Our Country: The Story of the Jewish Bund
Terrific ... Unearths the story of a Jewish political movement that opposed ethnic nationalism of all stripes and that fought antisemites head-on — sometimes literally beating them on the head ... An authoritative history ... Thrillingly energetic ... Ultimately, Crabapple wants to offer inspiration, not prescription.
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Although Here Where We Live Is Our Country is documented with forty pages of small-type endnotes, don’t expect a dispassionate work of academic scholarship. Crabapple tells you where she stands ... Deeply felt and highly personal ... Despite her eloquent prose, some readers may find her imagination roaming a few steps too far ... Lyrical, lovely, but not convincing to someone who does not already share her enthusiasm.
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An energetic but flawed account of the Bund ... Ms. Crabapple spent years in the Bund’s archives and learned to read Yiddish. She makes good use of her material, but her writing veers between magical-realist cuteness ('He stroked the driftwood, looking for stories hidden in the grain') and a loathing of Zionism ... This dishonesty spoils the story and replicates the Bundists’ ideological vanity, minus their heroism.
