Summary of the Theme
In these works of modern fiction, love and desire cross paths in the math department, on the analyst's couch, in an Israeli garage—and often with surprising results: an arranged marriage heats up, a ménage à trois turns cozy.

This theme is part of the Jewish Literature – Identity and Imagination series, which is an exploration of Jewish literature and culture.

Book List

• Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth
• The Little Disturbances of Man by Grace Paley
• A Simple Story by S.Y. Agnon
• The Lover by A.B. Yehoshua
• The Mind-Body Problem by Rebecca Goldstein

Program Brochure
The humanities scholar's essay was written in 2004 by Jeremy Dauber, Atran Assistant Professor of Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture at Columbia University.

To access these program materials, you will need Adobe Reader. If you do not have Adobe Reader installed on your computer, click here for a free download.

   Scholar's essay, annotated book list, and supplementary texts (pdf)*

"How To" Discussion Programming Guide
Developed to aid participants in “The Millennium Project for Public Libraries,” this programming guide provides basic information about developing and promoting book discussion programs.

* The American Library Association and Nextbook, Inc. are the copyright owners of this essay and annotations. The credit lines embedded in the program materials and/or sponsor and funder logos must remain on all published (print and web) materials derived from these materials.