Name: Panisa Sed's review of The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen
Item: The Netanyahus
Rating: 4.5
Author: Panisa Sed

Joshua Cohen

Corbin College, not-quite-upstate New York, winter 1959-1960: Ruben Blum, a Jewish historian - but not an historian of the Jews - is coopted onto a hiring committee to review the application of an exiled Israeli scholar specializing in the Spanish Inquisition. When Benzion Netanyahu shows up for an interview, family unexpectedly in tow, Blum plays the reluctant host, to guests who proceed to lay waste to his American complacencies. Mixing fiction with non-fiction, the campus novel with the lecture, The Netanyahus is a wildly inventive, genre-bending comedy of blending, identity, and politics - 'An Account of A Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family' that finds Joshua Cohen at the height of his powers.

The Netanyahus

james

This book is the kind of book that one doesn’t truly understand until it’s over. Honestly, I was bored out of my mind praying the book would end soon; and when it did, it suddenly felt like one of the most meaningful reading experiences I’ve had. Admittedly, I found the choice of vocabulary incredibly annoying, with obnoxiously long words, that could’ve never been thought of by a real person, but rather 

. With that being said, it was a phenomenal book. The entire book feels awkward and uncomfortable, as if forcing you into the main character’s shoes, even when you’d really rather not be in them. It flawlessly illustrates the experience of meeting someone you’re supposed to be “ the same as”, and yet feeling so disconnected from them. This is certainly worth a read, even if you feel like you could fall asleep in the middle, the end will make you wish you could read it for the first time all over again.

Panisa Sed

This book is the kind of book that one doesn’t truly understand until it’s over. Honestly, I was bored out of my mind praying the book would end soon; and when it did, it suddenly felt like one of the most meaningful reading experiences I’ve had. Admittedly, I found the choice of vocabulary incredibly annoying, with obnoxiously long words, that could’ve never been thought of by a real person, but rather thesaurus.com. With that being said, it was a phenomenal book. The entire book feels awkward and uncomfortable, as if forcing you into the main character’s shoes, even when you’d really rather not be in them. It flawlessly illustrates the experience of meeting someone you’re supposed to be “ the same as”, and yet feeling so disconnected from them. This is certainly worth a read, even if you feel like you could fall asleep in the middle, the end will make you wish you could read it for the first time all over again.

Isabella Agostino

Perfect book. The kind you cancel plans to read. Quick, hilarious, stunning. I cringed, I laughed, and I underlined. But above all, I wished desperately to read it again for the first time. 

Side note, This is how I found Fitzcarraldo Editions, an independent publisher founded in 2014 :) they publish quite several respected contemporary authors and I’m a fan of their custom font 😊 another awesome independent publisher to keep on your radar!

I really enjoyed this book. It was such an interesting read and also entertaining and funny. The characters were fantastic and it's a very clear-sighted reflection on identity. One of those books where you know the author is really talented and you just get to enjoy a great book. I feel like it's so bold and it also makes me think why aren't more books like this 

Nina 

I was ignorant of many things Jewish being brought up with a Christian priest as my father. This was so good. Mad respect and want to learn everything about Jewish history now.

Becca M

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2021 A WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF 2021 A KIRKUS BEST FICTION BOOK OF 2021 "Absorbing, delightful, hilarious, breathtaking and the best and most relevant novel I’ve read in what feels like forever." —Taffy Brodesser-Akner, The New York Times Book Review Corbin College, not quite upstate New York, winter 1959–1960: Ruben Blum, a Jewish historian—but not an historian of the Jews—is co-opted onto a hiring committee to review the application of an exiled Israeli scholar specializing in the Spanish Inquisition. When Benzion Netanyahu shows up for an interview, family unexpectedly in tow, Blum plays the reluctant host to guests who proceed to lay waste to his American complacencies. Mixing fiction with nonfiction, the campus novel with the lecture, The Netanyahus is a wildly inventive, genre-bending comedy of blending, identity, and politics that finds Joshua Cohen at the height of his powers.

An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family

Ethan Hill

One of those books where you here about it and you’re like “huh? It won the Pulitzer?” Then you actually read it and realize it’s one of the best novels in recent memory.

"Absorbing, delightful, hilarious, breathtaking and the best and most relevant novel I've read in what feels like forever." --Taffy Brodesser-Akner, The New York Times Book Review Corbin College, not quite upstate New York, winter 1959-1960: Ruben Blum, a Jewish historian--but not an historian of the Jews--is co-opted onto a hiring committee to review the application of an exiled Israeli scholar specializing in the Spanish Inquisition. When Benzion Netanyahu shows up for an interview, family unexpectedly in tow, Blum plays the reluctant host to guests who proceed to lay waste to his American complacencies. Mixing fiction with nonfiction, the campus novel with the lecture, The Netanyahus is a wildly inventive, genre-bending comedy of blending, identity, and politics that finds Joshua Cohen at the height of his powers.

Fraser Simons

A highly Academic comedy in which the caricatures of a hedonistic most literal of all Zionists is invited to interview at a backwoods school for a history position, and the only Jew Americanist is required to subject himself (by way of cajoling from the institution) to being on the committee reviewing the application, as well as the actual hosting of the ideologically opposed, perhaps soon-to-be colleague. 

While most of the humour comes from the conception—at least for me—it does dip into absurdism. Predominately to accentuate how even in the 1950s campus life had similar polarization of politics and how revisionists were well and truly spotted back then. Given what we now know about the now normalized, once actually absurd revisionist movement the absurd individual that is the Netanyahus absolutely are, pioneering the Israeli state—the fact that this anecdote from Harold Bloom’s life is itself undergone revisionist history in the form of this book, revising the father of revisionism while also subtly (most of the time) showing the do-nothing attitudes leading to that end goal as forgone, but also the anti-semitism steeped in that movement aimed at any Jewish peoples against the movement, is really pretty deft. And where the humour primarily stems from.

Now, this said, there’s also just wild events that occur to make it clear that no character is depicted fairly remotely to reality, other than their ideology. There’s no slip-sliding on that front. That makes it particularly biting while retaining the low brow wit that breaks tension. Heck, even whether or not a particularly funny sex scene takes place is answered with a plumb, if you infer, in the credits and more credits section. 

Had I been more into the text. By that I mean, educated on the subjects it speaks intelligently about, I think I’d probably have gotten much more out of it. But the strength of the writing propelled me anyway. And there is, quite literally, a history lesson. The prose do weaken somewhat when it shifts to the framing of the actual arrival of the Netanyahus though. Our man is less razor sharp and playful with diction, which was the primarily enjoyment until I skated to what made this piece funny at a structural, conceptual level. 

Especially because the formatting is fairly academic as well: Thick, meaty paragraphs that can go on for pages glide much faster in the first third of the book. The more granular it gets with history, and you have to really hunker down to internalize it, it does creep to a crawl. Will not be to everyone’s taste. 

In that way it might be a deft slight of hand, shifting to that. But I think I’d prefer have had the voice maintain throughout. Combined with the niche quality of the high brow humour, it’s probably not got much of a chance to blow me away. Even to a layman, however, very enjoyable.

Anthony Sabourin

Buries Stoner in a shallow grave. The kind of writing that makes you say dumb shit like: “fiercely intelligent,” or “a novel of ideas,” or whatever. Cohen’s ability to sustain thought is delightful, and he is not shy about provocation. His best yet.

Donald

Cohen had a lot of fun writing this, and the closing sequence is glorious.

Somehow he wrote an original take on the 20th C. cliché of the Jewish girl wanting a nose job. Best take on that since Pynchon, surely.

james &
The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen

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The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen