MJCCA Announces Complete Author Line-Up For Its 25th Edition of the Book Festival of the MJCCA
November 5 � 20, 2016
Media Contact: Lora Sommer - 678.812.4078, lora.sommer@atlantajcc.org
Program Contact : Pam Morton – 678.812.3981, pam.morton@atlantajcc.org
Purchase Tickets: www.atlantajcc.org/bookfestival, 678.812.4005
(Interviews and Images Available by Request)
Headlining Authors: Peter Bergen ∙ Andy Cohen ∙ Yael Dayan ∙ Jonathan Safran Foer ∙ Daniel Gordis ∙ Shep Gordon ∙ Alice Hoffman ∙ Carson Kressley ∙ Kenny Loggins ∙ Jeffrey Toobin
From November 5 – 20, 2016, the Book Festival of the MJCCA will celebrate 25 years of bringing culture and conversation to the greater Atlanta community. Each year, the Book Festival's exceptional repertoire has something to offer all book lovers, bringing more than 13,000 members of the community together to meet, listen to, and engage with their favorite local, national, and international authors. Most events will be held at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta (MJCCA), 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody.
Book Festival of the MJCCA Co-Chairs
“Whether you are an artist or musician; a scholar or historian; a reader of mystery, humor, or fiction, this Book Festival has something for you,” said Book Festival Co-Chair Deborah Jacobs. “The 25th Edition offers a range of new programs: a live musical concert, a cultural Jewish food tasting, “In Conversation” interviews between authors and local journalists, and various book club programs.”
“For 16 days, we invite people from across the Southeast to meet these renowned authors,” added Book Festival Co-Chair Dee Kline. “Book lovers can’t wait for this year’s lineup of unique events, featuring everything from comedy and cooking, to health and Hollywood; from terrorism and kidnapping, to Israel and politics, and much more.”
Author Line Up (In order of appearance, as of press release date):
Ø Saturday, November 5, 8:15 pm – (Member: $28 / Community: $33 / Premier: $75 – All tickets include a copy of the book. Premier tickets include priority seating and VIP signing line.)
KENNY LOGGINS, Footloose (Acoustic Performance and Talk)
Opening Night – This Program will be In Conversation with… Mara Davis, Local Media Personality
Join us for an evening of music and conversation as Grammy® Award-winning artist Kenny Loggins discusses his phenomenal four-decade-long career as a one of America’s most iconic rock stars and his latest project – a bestselling children’s book based on his hit song, Footloose. He will also perform some of his classic hits. It’s been 32 years since Footloose, the 1985 Oscar® nominated and Grammy® Award-winning Song of the Year, hit the airwaves and graced movie screens. Now, the iconic pop anthem takes on a brand new life of its own as a children’s book with new lyrics, entitled Footloose. In this version of the classic we all love and remember, Footloose features a zoo full of animals dressed in their dancing best—all ready to party by the light of the moon!
Ø Sunday, November 6, 12:00 pm – (Member: $10 / Community: $15)
This Program will be In Conversation with… Kate Tuttle, Book Reviewer, Boston Globe; Director, Decatur Writers Studio
One Program; Two Authors
o ROBERT WITTMAN, The Devil’s Diary
A groundbreaking World War II narrative wrapped in a riveting detective story, The Devil’s Diary investigates the disappearance of a private diary penned by one of Adolf Hitler’s top aides—Alfred Rosenberg, his “chief philosopher”—and mines its long-hidden pages to deliver a fresh, eye-opening account of the Nazi rise to power and the genesis of the Holocaust.
o BRIAN CURTIS, Fields of Battle
New York Times bestselling author and Dunwoody resident Brian Curtis brings us a powerful story that sheds light on a little-known slice of American history where World War II and football intersect. In the wake of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the 1942 Rose Bowl was moved from Pasadena to Duke University out of fear of further Japanese attacks on the West Coast. Shortly after this unforgettable game, many of the players and coaches left their respective colleges, entered the military, and went on to serve around the world in famous battlegrounds, where fate and destiny would bring them back together on faraway battlefields, fighting on the same team.
Ø Sunday, November 6, 7:30 pm – (Member: $13 / Community: $18)
YAEL DAYAN, Transitions
This Program will be In Conversation with… Nadia Bilchik, Executive Producer, CNN’s New Day; President, Greater Impact Communication
Yael Dayan, novelist daughter of the legendary Moshe Dayan and a public figure with a long and illustrious political career behind her, looks back at her life, scrutinizing it without illusions. Once a desirable, free-spirited young woman and successful author, she lived with the sense that she held the world in the palm of her hand. Now in her 70s, she admits with touching honesty to missing both the vibrant 20-something she was, and the sober woman she became—a fierce political activist and parliamentarian for the left and a fighter for justice, women’s rights, and peace. Having resigned from her last public position, she must reconcile herself to being a mentor, a participant instead of a leader, yet remaining center-stage on the Peace Camp scene.
Ø Monday, November 7, 12:00 pm – (Member: $10 / Community: $15)
The Program will be In Conversation with… Lisa Baron Shore, Bestselling Author
One Program; Two Authors
o ZOE FISHMAN, Inheriting Edith
For years, Maggie Sheets has been a housekeeper in the glittering homes of wealthy New York City clients, doing all she can to keep her head above water as a single mother. Everything changes when a former employer, a renowned author, takes her own life, leaving Maggie with a staggering inheritance—a house in Sag Harbor. The catch? It comes with an inhabitant: The deceased’s 82-year-old mother Edith, recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. When Maggie offers to transcribe Edith’s life for her in an effort to hold onto the moments she’s terrified of losing, a real friendship begins to bloom, leading Edith to share a decades-old secret that might just lead them to what they are both looking for.
o JONATHAN RABB, Among the Living
Savannah College of Art & Design Professor Jonathan Rabb’s debut novel chronicles the early Jewish community in Savannah, Georgia. In late summer 1947, 31-year-old Yitzhak Goldah, concentration camp survivor, arrives in Savannah to live with his only remaining relatives—Abe and Pearl Jesler, who are older, childless, and an integral part of the thriving Jewish community. There, Yitzhak discovers a fractured world, where Reform and Conservative Jews live separate lives. These distinctions are meaningless to him, given what he has been through. He further complicates things when, much to the Jeslers’ dismay, he falls in love with Eva, a young widow within the Reform community. When a woman from Yitzhak’s past suddenly appears—one who is even more shattered by the war than he is—Yitzhak must choose between a dark and tortured familiarity and the promise of a bright new life.
Ø Monday, November 7, 7:30 pm – (Member: $13 / Community: $18)
The Program will be In Conversation with… Gail Evans, Former Executive Vice President, CNN and Bestselling Author
One Program; Two Authors
o HOWARD BLUM, The Last Goodnight
New York Times bestselling author Howard Blum channels Erik Larson in this riveting biography of Betty Pack, the dazzling American debutante who became an Allied spy during WWII and was hailed as “the greatest unsung heroine of the war.” This is the remarkable story of the woman who Time Magazine called “Mata Hari from Minnesota” and the passions that ruled her tempestuous life, filled with dangerous liaisons and death-defying missions vital to the Allied victory.
O URI BAR-JOSEPH, The Angel
As the son-in-law of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and a close advisor to his successor, Anwar Sadat, Ashraf Marwan had access to the deepest secrets of the country’s government. But Marwan himself had a secret: he was a spy for the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service. Under the codename “The Angel,” Marwan turned Egypt into an open book for the Israeli intelligence service—and, by alerting the Mossad in advance of the joint Egyptian-Syrian attack on Yom Kippur, he saved Israel from a devastating defeat. Drawing on meticulous research and interviews with many key participants, author and scholar Uri Bar Joseph pieces together Marwan’s story. In the process, he sheds new light on this volatile time in modern Egyptian and Middle Eastern history, culminating in 2011’s Arab Spring.
Ø Tuesday, November 8, 12:30 pm – (Member: $10 / Community: $15)
DR. JOEL HOFFMAN, The Bible Doesn’t Say That
Acclaimed translator and biblical scholar Dr. Joel M. Hoffman explores what the Bible meant before it’s been misinterpreted during the past 2,000 years. Hoffman walks the reader through dozens of mistranslations, misconceptions, and other misunderstandings about the Bible. He covers morality, lifestyle, theology, and biblical imagery. What does the Bible say about violence? About keeping kosher? About marriage and divorce? Hoffman provides answers to all of these questions and more, succinctly explaining how so many pivotal biblical answers came to be misunderstood.
Ø Wednesday, November 9, 12:30 pm – (Member: $10 / Community: $15)
The Program will be In Conversation with… John Lemley, Host and Producer, City Café and High Tea, AM 1690 WMLB
One Program; Two Authors
o ALYSON RICHMAN, The Velvet Hours
Inspired by the true account of an abandoned Parisian apartment, bestselling author Alyson Richman brings to life Solange Beaugiron, the young woman forced to leave her fabled grandmother’s legacy behind to save all that she loved. As Paris teeters on the edge of German occupation, a young French woman closes the door to her late grandmother’s treasure-filled apartment, unsure if she’ll ever return. Her grandmother, Marthe de Florian was an elusive courtesan, who cultivated a life of art and beauty, casting out all recollections of her impoverished childhood in the dark alleys of Montmartre. With Europe on the brink of war, her story is shared with Solange, using her prized possessions to reveal her innermost secrets.
O B.A. SHAPIRO, The Muralist
When Alizée Benoit, a young American painter employed by the Works Progress Administration vanishes in New York City in 1940, no one knows what happened to her. Not her Jewish family living in German-occupied France. Not her arts patron and political compatriot, Eleanor Roosevelt. Not her close-knit group of friends and fellow painters, including Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, and Lee Krasner. After 70 years, her great-niece, Danielle Abrams, stumbles upon a clue while working at Christie’s auction house. Entwining the lives of both historical and fictional characters, and moving between the past and the present, The Muralist plunges readers into the divisiveness of prewar politics and the largely forgotten plight of European refugees refused entrance into the United States.
Ø Wednesday, November 9, 7:00 pm – (Free and Open to the Community)
KRISTALLNACHT COMMEMORATION, At the MJCCA’s Besser Holocaust Memorial Garden
Please join Marlene and Abe Besser, and Rabbi Brian Glusman at the beautiful Besser Holocaust Memorial Garden as we light the six torches and pay tribute to one of the most horrific nights in Jewish history, Kristallnacht.
Ø Wednesday, November 9, 7:30 pm – (Member: $13 / Community: $18)
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER, Here I Am: A Novel
This Program will be In Conversation with… Greg Changnon, Former Book Columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
How do we fulfill our conflicting duties as father, husband, and son; wife and mother; child and adult? Jew and American? How can we claim our own identities when our lives are linked so closely to others’? These are the questions at the heart of the new novel—his first in 11 years— from Jonathan Safran Foer, the bestselling author of Everything Is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Unfolding during four tumultuous weeks in present-day Washington, D.C., Here I Am is the story of a fractured family in a moment of crisis. As Jacob and Julia Bloch and their three sons are forced to confront the distances between the lives they think they want and the lives they are living, a catastrophic earthquake sets in motion a quickly escalating conflict in the Middle East. Here I Am not only confirms Foer’s stature as a dazzling literary talent but reveals a novelist who has fully come into his own as one of our most important writers.
Ø Thursday, November 10, 10:30 am – (Free and Open to the Community)
This Program will be In Conversation with… Esther Panitch, Wife, Mother, Trailblazing Attorney, and TV Talking Head
One Program; Two Authors
o DR. FRIEDA BIRNBAUM, Life Begins at 60
Nine years ago, Dr. Frieda Birnbaum attracted international media attention for setting a national age record for giving birth to twin boys at 60. By all accounts, she broke any definition of motherhood. Leveraging her expertise as a psychotherapist, (a degree she earned in her late 40s), Dr. Frieda has become a sought-after commentator on subjects of gender disparities, equality, and ageism. In her candid memoir, Life Begins at 60, she shares what she’s learned and gained from her experiences as a revolutionary mother, a “bubby,” a devoted wife of 40 years, a psychotherapist, and a daughter of Jewish-Polish immigrants, who escaped the Holocaust. Today, at 68, she proudly embodies her most treasured message: do not fear growing old.
O MARLENE TRESTMAN, Fair Labor Lawyer
Through a life that spanned every decade of the 20th century, Supreme Court advocate Bessie Margolin shaped modern American labor policy while creating a place for female lawyers in the nation’s highest courts. Despite her beginnings in the Jewish Orphans’ Home in New Orleans and her rare position as a southern, Jewish woman pursuing a legal profession, Margolin became an important and influential Supreme Court advocate. Through lawyer-turned-author Marlene Trestman’s engaging prose, exhaustive research, and personal connection to her subject, Fair Labor Lawyer captures the forces that propelled Margolin’s journey and reveals the inner life of this trailblazing woman, who has been largely ignored in accounts of these historical events.
Ø Thursday, November 10, 12:30 pm – (Member: $10 / Community: $15)
ADAM LEVIN, Swiped
This Program will be In Conversation with… Aaron Diamant, Channel 2 Action News Investigative Reporter
Identity fraud happens to everyone. We once hoped to protect ourselves from hackers with airtight passwords and aggressive spam filters. But with the breaches of huge organizations like Target, AshleyMadison.com, JPMorgan Chase, Sony, and Anthem, more than a billion personal records have already been stolen, and chances are good that you’re already in harm’s way. However, there is hope. Your identity may get stolen, but it doesn’t have to be a life-changing event. Adam Levin, a longtime consumer advocate and identity fraud expert, provides a method to help you keep hackers, phishers, and spammers from becoming your problem
Ø Thursday, November 10, 7:30 pm – (Member: $18 / Community: $24)
PETER BERGEN, United States of Jihad
This Program will be In Conversation with… Bill Nigut, Senior Executive Producer, Georgia Public Broadcasting
The recent tragic, ISIS-inspired attacks in Paris, San Bernardino, Orlando, and Nice provide fresh evidence that “homegrown” terrorism is a real and present danger. In United States of Jihad, CNN national security analyst and New York Times bestselling author Peter Bergen offers an unprecedented look at the factors that led to the radicalization of American citizens and offers expert insights into the shape of the threat confronting us. For more than two decades, Bergen has been our foremost chronicler of Islamist terrorism, through groundbreaking reporting on the Middle East, al-Qaeda, and homeland security. Based on a wealth of sources, including a meticulously compiled database, counterterrorism theory, and interviews with militants and their families, Bergen exposes the forces that have led Anwar al-Awlaki, Samir Kahn, the Tsarnaev brothers, and so many others down the path to terrorism.
Ø Friday, November 11, 12:00 pm – (Member: $10 / Community: $15)
One Program; Two Authors
o ELLEN FELDMAN, Terrible Virtue
Terrible Virtue is the compelling g story of one of the most fascinating and influential figures of the 20th century: Planned Parenthood Founder Margaret Sanger, an indomitable woman who, helped shape the sexual landscape we inhabit today. The daughter of a hard-drinking mother worn down by 13 children, Sanger vowed her life would be different. Trained as a nurse, she fought for social justice, eventually channeling her energy to one singular cause: legalizing contraception. It was a battle that would pit her against puritanical, patriarchal lawmakers, send her to prison again and again, force her to flee to England, and ultimately change the lives of women around the world. Terrible Virtue is Margaret Sanger’s story as she might have told it.
O JENNIFER S. BROWN, Modern Girls
Modern Girls is a dazzling debut novel set in New York City’s Jewish immigrant community in 1935. Dottie Krasinsky is the epitome of the modern girl. A bookkeeper in Midtown Manhattan, Dottie steals kisses from her steady beau, meets her girlfriends for drinks, and eyes the latest fashions. Yet at heart, she is a dutiful daughter, living with her Yiddish-speaking parents on the Lower East Side. So when she finds herself in the family way by a charismatic but unsuitable man, she is desperate: unwed, unsure, and running out of options. After the birth of five children—and 20 years as a housewife—Dottie’s immigrant mother, Rose, is itching to return to the social activism she embraced as a young woman. So when she realizes that she, too, is pregnant, she struggles to reconcile her longings with her faith.
Ø Saturday, November 12, 8:00 pm – (Member: $18 / Community: $24, Ticket includes author talk and film**)
SHEP GORDON, They Call Me Supermensch
This Program will be In Conversation with… Kenny Leon, Founder and Artistic Director, Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company
In the course of his legendary career as a manager, agent, and producer, Shep Gordon has worked with, and befriended, some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry, from Alice Cooper to Bette Davis, Raquel Welch to Groucho Marx, Blondie to Jimi Hendrix, Sylvester Stallone to Salvador Dali, and Luther Vandross to Teddy Pendergrass. He is also credited with inventing the “celebrity chef,” and has worked with Nobu Matsuhisa, Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, Roger Vergé, and many others, including his holiness the Dalai Lama. In this wonderfully engaging memoir, the charismatic entertainment legend recalls his life, from his humble beginnings as a “shy, no self-esteem, Jewish nebbisher kid with no ambition” in Oceanside, Long Island, to his unexpected rise as one of the most influential and respected personalities in show business, revered for his kindness, charisma, and fondness for a good time.
(**At 6:30 pm, prior to Shep Gordon’s author talk, there will be a screening of the film, Supermensch – $5 for the film only. About the film: In his directorial debut, Mike Myers (Austin Powers, Wayne’s World) steps behind the camera to document the astounding career of friend, Hollywood insider, and uber-manager Shep Gordon.)
Ø Sunday, November 13, 11:30 am – (Member: $18 / Community: $24, Ticket includes breakfast reception and film**)
INA PINKEY, Ina’s Kitchen
This Program will be In Conversation with… Jenny Levison, Owner, Souper Jenny
Ina Pinkney, the beloved restaurateur known affectionately as the “Breakfast Queen,” has been feeding Chicago for more than 30 years. When she closed her namesake restaurant’s doors in 2013, it headlined news across the Midwest. Now, the favorite dishes that thousands came to love at Ina’s are showcased in her book, Ina’s Kitchen, part cookbook part memoir. From milestone moments and warm memories to the truth about owning a restaurant, readers will gain a deeper understanding of one of Chicago’s best-known culinary icons.
(**At 10:00 am, prior to Ina Pinkey’s author talk, there will be a screening of the film, Breakfast at Ina’s – $5 for the film only. About the film: An affectionate homage to a beloved Chicago eatery and its magnetic namesake. 2015 Audience Award-winner, Best Documentary/Atlanta Jewish Film Festival.)
Ø Sunday, November 13, 3:00 pm – (Member: $10 / Community: $15)
JESSE ITZLER, Living With a Seal
This Program will be In Conversation with… Conn Jackson, Life Adventurer, TV/Radio Personality
Atlanta entrepreneur Jesse Itzler will try almost anything. He pretended to be an established hip-hop artist to secure a meeting with a studio head. It led to a record deal. He sincerely offered to run a 100-mile race in Spanx to get the attention of the beautiful founder of the company, Sara Blakely and ended up marrying her. His life is about being bold and risky and it’s brought him plenty of rewards. He’s part owner of the Atlanta Hawks, he co-founded Marquis Jet, and he helped pioneer the coconut water craze with Zico coconut water, which was later acquired by The Coca-Cola Company. So when Jesse felt himself drifting on autopilot, he hired a rather unconventional trainer to live with him for a month— an accomplished Navy SEAL widely considered to be “the toughest man on the planet!” Jesse and SEAL’s escapades soon produce a great friendship, and by the time SEAL leaves, Jesse is in the best shape of his life.
Ø Sunday, November 13, 7:30 pm – (Member: $18 / Community: $24)
DR. DANIEL GORDIS, Israel
This Program will be In Conversation with… Professor Ken W. Stein, President, Center for Israel Education
Dr. Daniel Gordis is one of the most respected Israel analysts living in Jerusalem today. He has written the first comprehensive history of the state of Israel from its inception to present day. Israel is a tiny state, yet it has captured the world’s attention, aroused its imagination, and lately, been the object of harsh criticism. Why does such a small state speak to so many global concerns? More pressingly: Why does Israel make the decisions it does? And what lies in its future? We cannot answer these questions until we understand Israel’s people, the questions, conflicts, hopes, and desires that have animated their conversations and actions. Guiding us through the milestones of Israeli history, Gordis relays the drama of the Jewish people’s story and the creation of the state. With Israel, public intellectual Gordis offers us a brief but thorough account of the cultural, economic, and political history of this complex nation.
Ø Monday, November 14, 12:00 pm – (Member: $10 / Community: $15)
One Program; Two Authors
o VICTORIA KELLY, Mrs. Houdini: A Novel
Before escape artist Harry Houdini died, he vowed he would find a way to speak to his beloved wife Bess from beyond the grave using a coded message known only to the two of them. When a widowed Bess begins seeing this code in seemingly impossible places, it becomes clear that Harry has an urgent message to convey. Unlocking the puzzle will set Bess on a course back through the pair’s extraordinary romance. When the mystery finally leads Bess to the doorstep of a mysterious young photographer, she realizes that her husband’s magic may have been more than just illusion.
o THELMA ADAMS, Last Woman Standing
Two decades after the Civil War, Josephine Marcus, the teenage daughter of Jewish immigrants, is lured west with the promise of marriage to Johnny Behan, one of Arizona’s famous lawmen. She leaves her San Francisco home to join Behan in Tombstone, Arizona, a magnet for miners (and outlaws) attracted by the silver boom. But when the silver-tongued Behan proves unreliable, it is legendary frontiersman Wyatt Earp who emerges as Josephine’s match. As the couple’s romance sparks, Behan’s jealousy ignites a rivalry destined for the history books. Last Woman Standing is based on the real-life adventures of Josephine Earp, Wyatt Earp’s common-law wife. After his death, Josephine buried her beloved husband in a Jewish cemetery near San Francisco.
Ø Monday, November 14, 7:30 pm – (Member: $13 / Community: $18)
ALICE HOFFMAN, Faithful: A Novel
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This Program will be In Conversation with… Melissa Long, Anchor/Reporter, 11Alive
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Marriage of Opposites and The Dovekeepers comes a soul-searching story about a young woman struggling to redefine herself and the power of love, family, and fate. Growing up on Long Island, Shelby Richmond is an ordinary girl until one night an extraordinary tragedy changes her fate. Her best friend’s future is destroyed in an accident, while Shelby walks away with the burden of guilt. Faithful is the story of a survivor, filled with emotion and a moving portrait of a young woman finding her way in the modern world. For anyone who’s ever been a hurt teenager, for every mother of a daughter who has lost her way, Faithful is a roadmap. Critics have said Alice Hoffman’s trademark alchemy and her ability to write about the delicate balance between the everyday world and the extraordinary, make this an unforgettable story. With beautifully crafted prose, Alice Hoffman spins hope from heartbreak in this profoundly moving novel.
Ø Tuesday, November 15, 12:30 pm – (Member: $10 / Community: $15)
DR. MACHE SEIBEL, The Estrogen Window
This Program will be In Conversation with… Mimi Zieman, MD, OB/GYN and VP Clinical Affairs, Femasys
In The Estrogen Window, Dr. Mache Seibel, international health expert and leading authority on women’s wellness and menopause, presents groundbreaking research that explains how every woman has a window of opportunity to begin estrogen replacement. If begun at the right time, estrogen can lower the risk of breast cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s disease, while minimizing menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, lower libido, fractured sleep, brain fog, irritability, and weight gain. Seibel provides insight about alternatives to estrogen and how to talk with your healthcare provider about what is best for you.
Ø Tuesday, November 15, 7:30 pm – (Member: $18 / Community: $24)
CARSON KRESSLEY, Does This Book Make My Butt Look Big?
This Program will be In Conversation with… Holly Firfer, CNN Reporter
Carson Kressley is the Emmy®-winning TV star and New York Times bestselling author of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Regarded as one of the fashion industry’s most sought-after makeover experts, Kressley has touched the lives and wardrobes of millions of viewers around the world for more than a decade. He has connected with millions more on Oprah Winfrey, Good Morning America, and countless other national broadcasts. Does This Book Make My Butt Look Big? is a roadmap for the American everywoman to build unshakable body confidence. Kressley reminds women that fashion is FUN. They need to know that with the right tools, they have the power to transform their self-perception from woe-is-me to wow-is-me. Most of all, they need Kressley, their peppy, blond fairy godstylist, to show them the way!
Ø Wednesday, November 16 - 12:00 pm Lunch / 2:30 pm Program – (Member: $24 / Community: $28, Ticket includes a tasting of culturally Jewish foods)
One Program; Two Authors
o LLOYD HANDWERKER, Famous Nathan
Nathan Handwerker was an Eastern European Jewish immigrant who left the small world he knew for America, arriving at Ellis Island speaking not a word of English and with only $25 hidden in his shoes. He had a simple goal: work hard and carve out a piece of the American dream. Beginning in 1916, with just five feet of counter space on Coney Island’s Surf Avenue, Nathan sold his frankfurters for five cents. As New York booms, so too does Nathan’s humble frankfurter stand. Written by Nathan’s grandson as a portrait of a man, a family, and the changing face of a nation through a century of promise and progress, Famous Nathan is a dog’s tale that snaps and satisfies with every page.
o INA YALOF, Food and the City
In Food and the City, Ina Yalof takes us on an insider’s journey into New York’s pulsating food scene. Lenny Berk explains why Woody Allen’s mother would allow only him to slice her lox at Zabar’s and restaurateur Eddie Schoenfeld describes his journey from Nice Jewish Boy from Brooklyn to New York’s Indisputable Chinese food maven. The book includes old-schoolers like Fox’s U-Bet Syrup Owner David Fox and the outspoken Upper West Side butcher “Schatzie,” as well as new kids on the block like The Dutch Sous Chef Patrick Collins and Brooklyn artisan Lauren Clark of Sucre Mort Pralines. Food and the City is a fascinating history with an unforgettable gallery of New Yorkers who embody the heart and soul of a culinary metropolis.
Ø Wednesday, November 16, 7:30 pm – (Member: $10 / Community: $15)
MEIR SHALEV, Two She-Bears: A Novel
Master storyteller Meir Shalev, one of Israel’s most celebrated novelists and the acclaimed author of A Pigeon and a Boy, brings us a story of village love and vengeance in the early days of British Palestine. Two She-Bears is an unconventional literary thriller about two murders—one committed as an act of vengeance and the second as an act of retribution. Spanning three generations in one family’s life, this is a tale of love, betrayal, revenge, loss, brutality, and salvation. The story is rich with the grit, humor, and near-magical evocation of Israeli rural life.
Ø Thursday, November 17, 10:30 am – (Free and Open to the Community)
JEFFREY SELMAN, God Sent Me
This Program will be In Conversation with… Michael Jacobs, Editor, Atlanta Jewish Times
When the Cobb County public school board placed a disclaimer against evolution into the Georgia county’s new high school science textbooks, the implications were clear— separation of church and state and accurate education were at risk. Cobb County resident and attorney Jeffrey Selman, along with several other like-minded citizens and the ACLU,
marched into battle with a lawsuit against the forces undermining science education. This narrative shines a light on just what it takes to protect freedom and reminds the average citizen to “wake up and get to work!” God Sent Me is the account of one citizen making himself heard and taking action to preserve constitutional protections in the conflict between scientific evolution and religion-based creationism.
Ø Thursday, November 17, 12:30 pm – (Member: $10 / Community: $15)
LIANE KUPFERBERG CARTER, Ketchup is My Favorite Vegetable
This Program will be In Conversation with… Janel Margaretta, Chief Development & Communications Officer, MJCCA
How do you create an ordinary family life, while dealing with the extraordinary needs of an autistic child? Meet Mickey—charming, funny, compassionate, and autistic. In this unflinching portrait of family life, author and well-known autism advocate Liane Kupferberg Carter gives us a mother’s insight into what really goes on in the two decades after diagnosis. From the double blow of a subsequent epilepsy diagnosis, to bullying and bar mitzvahs, Mickey’s struggles and triumphs along the road to adulthood are honestly detailed to show how one family learned to grow and thrive with autism.
Ø Thursday, November 17, 7:30 pm – (Member: $13 / Community: $18)
This Program will be In Conversation with… Jamie Bendall, Owner, Punchline Comedy Club
One Program; Two Authors
o WILLIAM NOVAK, Die Laughing: Killer Jokes for Newly Old Folks
The co-creator of the celebrated Big Book of Jewish Humor brings us a laugh-out-loud collection of jokes about growing older that makes fun of memory loss, marriages, medicine, sex, the afterlife, and much more. Whether it’s dealing with doctors, dating in one’s seventies, or unexpected bodily changes (not to mention funny noises), some things are easier to face with a smile of recognition. After all, laughter is the best medicine.
o MICHAEL KRASNY, Let There Be Laughter
From the host of NPR affiliate’s Forum with Michael Krasny comes a compendium of Jewish jokes that packs the punches with hilarious riff after riff and also offers a window into Jewish culture. Michael Krasny has been telling Jewish jokes since his bar mitzvah, and it’s been said that he knows more of them than anyone on the planet. He certainly states his case in this wise, enlightening, and hilarious book that not only collects the best of Jewish humor passed down from generation to generation, but explains the cultural expressions and anxieties behind the laughs.
Ø Friday, November 18, 12:00 pm – (Member: $10 / Community: $15)
CHRISTOPHER NOXON, Plus One
Christopher Noxon’s debut novel, Plus One, is a comedic take on breadwinning women and caretaking men in contemporary Los Angeles. Alex Sherman-Zicklin is a midlevel marketing executive whose wife’s 14th attempt at a TV pilot is produced, ordered to series, and awarded an Emmy. Overnight, she’s sucked into a mad show business vortex and he’s tasked with managing their new high-profile Hollywood lifestyle. He falls in with a posse of Plus Ones, men who are married to women whose success, income, and public recognition far surpasses their own. Clearly a narrative where life imitates art, Noxon himself is an accomplished journalist who happens to be married to the wildly successful creator and producer of Weeds and Orange is the New Black—Jenji Kohan.
Ø Saturday, November 19, 8:00 pm – (Member: $18 / Community: $24)
JEFFREY TOOBIN, American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst
Bestselling author Jeffrey Toobin offers up the definitive account of the 1974 Patty Hearst kidnapping and trial that defined an insane era in American history. The heiress to the Hearst family fortune was kidnapped by a ragtag group of self-styled revolutionaries calling itself the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). The tale’s twists and turns are truly astonishing. The saga of Patty Hearst highlighted a decade in which America seemed to be suffering a collective nervous breakdown. Based on more than a hundred interviews and thousands of previously secret documents, American Heiress thrillingly recounts the craziness of the times. Toobin portrays the lunacy of the half-baked radicals of the SLA and the toxic mix of sex, politics, and violence that swept up Patty Hearst and re-creates her melodramatic trial.
Ø Sunday, November 20, 12:00 pm – (Member: $10 / Community: $15)
JASON GEWIRTZ, Israel’s Edge
CNBC executive producer and author Jason Gewirtz reveals the inner sanctum of Israel’s super-secret IDF unit, Talpiot. Instead of being trained to fight, the soldiers who are selected for Talpiot are taught how to think. In order to join this unit they have to commit to being in the army for 10 years, rather than the usual three. Israel’s Edge contains dozens of interviews with Talpiot graduates and some of the early founders of the program. Gewirtz profiles some of the most successful businesses founded by Talpiot graduates, including CheckPoint, Compugen, and Anobit, recently bought by Apple. No other military unit has had more of an impact on the State of Israel and no other unit will be more in demand in the years ahead.
Ø Sunday, November 20, 3:30 pm – (Free and Open to the Community)
HARRIET LEVIN MILLAN, How Fast Can You Run
This Program will be In Conversation with… Derreck Kayongo, CEO, National Center for Civil and Human Rights
(Harriet is appearing with “Lost Boy of Sudan” Michael Majok Kuch)
Set across a backdrop of refugee migration that spans Africa, America, and Australia, How Fast Can You Run is the inspiring story of Michael Majok Kuch and his journey to find his mother. In 1988, a 5-year-old Majok fled his burning village in southern Sudan when the North systematically destroyed it searching for John Garang, the South’s leader. Majok fled, along with thousands of others, many of them unaccompanied minors. He trekked through the wilderness in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya to arrive at a series of refugee camps where he would live for the next 10 years. When the U.S. brokered an agreement granting about 4,000 unaccompanied minors political asylum, Majok, now Michael, was given a new start in the U.S. His new life was not without trauma. He faced prejudice once again, disrupting the promise of his new beginnings. This is a story of a survivor, who, in facing challenge after challenge, summons the courageous spirit of millions of refugees throughout history and today.
Ø Sunday, November 20, 7:30 pm – (Member: $28 / Community: $33 / Premier: $75 – All tickets include a copy of Superficial. Premier tickets include priority seating and VIP signing line)
ANDY COHEN, Superficial
This Program will be In Conversation with…Phaedra Parks, Television Personality, Real Housewives of Atlanta
He’s BAAAAAAACK! The mega-popular host of Watch What Happens: Live and executive producer of The Real Housewives franchise is back, better than ever, and telling stories that will keep his publicist up at night. Since the last time we saw Andy, during the publication of his last New York Times bestselling book, The Andy Cohen Diaries, he has been busy. Andy he has toured the country with his sidekick Anderson Cooper, hit the radio waves with his own Sirius station, Radio Andy, appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher despite his mother’s conviction he was not intellectually prepared, hosted NBC’s Primetime New Year’s Eve special, guest edited Entertainment Weekly, and starred in Bravo’s Then & Now with Andy Cohen. If The Andy Cohen Diaries was deemed “the literary equivalent of a Fresca and tequila” by Jimmy Fallon, Superficial is a double: dishier, juicier, and friskier.
Book Festival of the MJCCA’s Social Action Project – Project GIVE
The Book Festival is proud to present its Social Action Project – Project GIVE, proudly supporting ORT Atlanta’s Annual “ORT My School” project, where young Atlantans help refurbish a local Title I school. ORT’s mission: to bring education to disadvantaged students around the world. This year, volunteers will help Dobbs Elementary School build a library. Visitors are invited to bring books to the Book Festival that are new or gently used, secular, and appropriate for elementary school (Grades K–5). A bin will be at the MJCCA front desk from October 1-November 30, 2016.
Contact Information for the 25th Edition of the Book Festival of the MJCCA
Ø Interview requests/media inquiries: Contact Lora Sommer, MJCCA PR Manager, 678.812.4078, lora.sommer@atlantajcc.org.
Ø Purchase Tickets/More Info: Click here, call the MJCCA Box Office at 678.812.4005, or visit us online at www.atlantajcc.org/bookfestival.
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