| Ambivalence: Adventures in Israel and Palestine Contributor(s): Garfinkel, Jonathan (Author) |
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ISBN: 0393066746 ISBN-13: 9780393066746 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company OUR PRICE: $23.36 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: August 2008 Annotation: With lofty ideals, spectacular ambivalence, and endearing naivete, Jonathan Garfinkel explores Israel and Palestine by talking to ordinary people. Jonathan Garfinkel can't make up his mind--not about his girlfriend, or Judaism, or Israel. After hearing about a house in Jerusalem where Jews and Arabs coexist in peace, he decides it's time to venture there. In Israel, nothing is as he imagined it, and nothing is as he was taught. Garfinkel gives us the people behind the headlines: from secret assignations with Palestinian activists and an uninvited visit at an Arab refugee camp to Passover with Orthodox Jewish friends and finding the truth about the mythic coexistence house, "Ambivalence" is the provocative, surreal, and often hilarious chronicle of his travels. In this part memoir and part quest, Garfinkel struggles with the growing divisions in a troubled region and with the divide in his soul. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Personal Memoirs - Travel | Middle East - Israel |
| Dewey: B |
| LCCN: 2008006167 |
| Physical Information: 1.4" H x 5.8" W x 8.4" (1.15 lbs) 368 pages |
| Themes: - Locality - Toronto, Ontario - Geographic Orientation - Ontario - Cultural Region - Canadian |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Jonathan Garfinkel can't make up his mind--not about his girlfriend, or Judaism, or Israel. After hearing about a house in Jerusalem where Jews and Arabs coexist in peace, he decides it's time to venture there. In Israel, nothing is as he imagined it, and nothing is as he was taught. Garfinkel gives us the people behind the headlines: from secret assignations with Palestinian activists and an uninvited visit at an Arab refugee camp to Passover with Orthodox Jewish friends and finding the truth about the mythic coexistence house, Ambivalence is the provocative, surreal, and often hilarious chronicle of his travels. In this part memoir and part quest, Garfinkel struggles with the growing divisions in a troubled region and with the divide in his soul. "Marvelous. Garfinkel deftly mines what it means to simultaneously belong, disavow, love, and loathe an identity, a culture, and a history.... A must-read."--David Rakoff |
Contributor Bio(s): Garfinkel, Jonathan: - Jonathan Garfinkel is a celebrated poet and play wright. He lives in Toronto. This is his first work of nonfiction. |