Independent Jewish Shul in Brookline, MA

Contact Us: 617-566-8171 | info@tbzbrookline.org

The Literary Mafia: Jews, Publishing, and Postwar American Literature (In-person and Zoom)

November 6, 2022    
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

(MultiAccess: In-person and Zoom)
With author, Professor and TBZ member Josh Lambert

In the 1960s and 1970s, complaints about a “Jewish literary mafia” were everywhere. Although a conspiracy of Jews colluding to control publishing in the United States never actually existed, such accusations reflected a genuine transformation from an industry notorious for excluding Jews to one in which they arguably had become the most influential figures.

Josh Lambert examines the dynamics between Jewish editors and Jewish writers; how Jewish women exposed the misogyny they faced from publishers; and how children of literary parents have struggled with and benefited from their inheritances. Drawing on interviews and tens of thousands of pages of letters and manuscripts, The Literary Mafia offers striking new discoveries about celebrated figures such as Lionel Trilling and Gordon Lish, and neglected fiction by writers including Ivan Gold, Ann Birstein, and Trudy Gertler.

Zoom link here.

Meeting ID: 834 3457 9485
Passcode: 794838