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Written by Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 09 January 2021

Created: 09 January 2021

Last Updated: 09 January 2021

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Gish Jen will discuss her newest book, The Resisters, at an online event sponsored by the Scarsdale Library, on Thursday night January 14 at 7:30 pm. Sign up here:

Some authors don’t fall neatly into a genre. Their books cannot fit tidily into a designated section of the bookstore or be catalogued as women’s fiction or immigrant literature. One such author is Gish Jen, who is not easily categorized as a person or as an author. Born to native Chinese parents, she grew up in Yonkers and then moved to Scarsdale where she had few Asian peers. She found herself surrounded by Jews and was deeply influenced by Jewish writers such as Saul Bellow, Bernard Malamud, Grace Paley and Philip Roth. The daughter of immigrants she was encouraged to pursue a lucrative profession, but left Stanford Business School to become a writer. Her work reflects these dichotomies and cultural contrasts, and in her own words she is a novelist, a humorist, a political commentator and an adventurous, complicated writer.

Her early books chronicled the experience of Chinese immigrants in the U.S., offering a hilarious take on the misunderstandings between cultures and generations. In her second book, “Mona in the Promised Land,” Mona Chang has moved to Scarsdale where her parents run a pancake house and she falls in with new Jewish friends. 

“It is 1968, the dawn of the age of ethnicity: African Americans are turning Chinese, Jews are turning black, and though some nice Chinese girls are turning more Chinese, teenaged Mona Chang is turning Jewish, much to her parents’ chagrin. The Chang family has just moved to posh Scarshill, New York, where the rhododendrons are as big as the Chang family’s old bathroom, and no one trims the forsythia into little can shapes. This takes some getting used to, especially since there’s also a new social landscape, with a hot line, a mystery caller, and a Temple Youth Group full of radical ideas.”

In fact, in fifth grade, the Jen family did move to Claremont Road in Greenacres and there Gish Jen discovered the library at Greenacres ElementaryGish and Family in 1968 School and fell in love with books. She says, “In Yonkers, no one discussed what they were reading, but in Scarsdale, Jen says, “books were important.” Here she also explored what it meant to be Chinese American, with enlightened adults, teachers and friends. She remembers being a minority in a welcoming neighborhood with liberal neighbors. Did her Scarsdale education influence her career choice? As she moved through the schools, she remembers amazing high school English teachers and wonders, “Had I not grown up in Scarsdale, would I have become a writer?” She remembers Scarsdale as “an inspiring place to be.” 

Was there discrimination against the Chinese when she was growing up in Scarsdale in the 1960-70’s? Yes, Jen concedes there was some, but it did not color her memories of her years here.

From Scarsdale, she went onto Harvard and graduated in 1973, then did a year at Stanford Business School before attending the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop where she earned her MFA in fiction in 1983. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, the Atlantic Monthly and in The Best American Short Stories of the Century, four times. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and delivered the William E. Massey Sr. Lectures in the History of American Civilization at Harvard.

As a writer, Jen says she feels very lucky to have the freedom to experiment in her writing and is “unafraid to try something new and be responsive to the times.” She’s written novels, a collection of short stories, non-fiction cross cultural studies and an analysis of the roots of the independent and interdependent self.

In her eighth and most recent book, “The Resisters,” Jen has returned to fiction, but written a book that’s in a genre of its own. She calls The Resisters “a post-automation surveillance state, feminist baseball book.”

In this dystopian, futuristic tale, Jen envisions an era in which automation has made many jobs obsolete and “surplussed” a subclass who no longer have an occupation and a “netted” class of the privileged. Society is ruled by “Aunt Nettie” who uses technology and surveillance to collect information, manipulate the Surplus and exercise control. Climate change has submerged the landscape, leaving the Surplus to live on plastic houseboats to make way for the netted to occupy limited dry land.

We spoke to the author from her home in Cambridge and she explained, “This book is about the way technology can exacerbate all our existing problems…. how technology can be an enabler.”

Gish Jen: Photo by Romana VysatovaJen is wary of home technology such as Alexa or Nest that record users ‘conversations and movements, saying, “In this country we assume a friendly government. We need to think hard about that. You would not want terrorists to have that information. You have to think again about what you are giving to various entities and how that can be used. Can we assume they will never be running on our government? What kind of risk are you taking? The more they know about you the more they can manipulate what you want.”

She questioned why we permit invasive technology to run our homes and our lives. She said, “We like to think that we think independently, but technology can manipulate you. To what degree does technology serve us – or is it using us?” What are the possible solutions? Jen says, “We have to ask ourselves those questions. We are in the process of working out our relationships with technology. I think we need more legislation to control it.”

She explained that she wrote the book in the first year of the Trump administration when it was clear that “our democracy” was at stake. She said, “It is horrifying to me that I imagined the Capitol being mobbed,” (Which actually happened the day before our interview.)

Jen points out that, as in her previous books, “The Resisters” remains the story of a family, a pair of “Surplus” parents who adore their only child Grace, a girl with a golden arm. Grace is a baseball star, and baseball is a uniquely American game. The book also examines race as most of the “Netted” or privileged class is white, which the “Surplus” are Coppertoned. But these familiar themes are overlaid by an examination of how “automation” or “technology” has come to control these characters’ behavior and lives. Many parents can relate to Jen’s depiction of the college drop-off scene, but in this book, the father sweeps the dorm room with a device detector to see if it is bugged.

In her latest book, Gish Jen again emerges as an astute interpreter of modern life and the risks that accompany our surrender to the convenience of modern technology. And like all of her books, it is a compelling read, with a suspenseful story, that is both amusing and insightful. 

Jen will read from The Resisters and speak at an online event sponsored by Scarsdale Library on Thursday January 14 at 7:30 pm. Sign up here!  And purchase your copy of “The Resisters” at Bronx River Books in Scarsdale.

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Written by Amy Paulin

Published: 24 January 2021

Created: 24 January 2021

Last Updated: 28 January 2021

Hits: 2100

Shirley Chisholm(The following was written by State Assemblymember Amy Paulin)
Since 1976, February has been celebrated as National Black History Month. We use this time to honor the brave activists who fought against racial discrimination and oppression, as well as the artists, leaders and innovators who’ve left an indelible mark on our nation. As we reflect on these pioneers, we must keep in mind that the battles fought by these trailblazers of history are still being fought today.

While the struggle for equal rights and fair treatment cannot be pinned down to any one location, New York State is home to several key landmarks and milestones in Black history. During the Dutch and Indian War in 1644, the farms of 11 Black freedmen spanned most of central Manhattan, eventually earning them enough money to buy the freedom of their still-enslaved children. Later, historic Weeksville, Brooklyn, became the largest pre-Civil War community of free Black Americans in the United States. Many of the stops on the Underground Railroad were also located in New York, including abolitionist and freedman Frederick Douglass’ house in Rochester, the last stop on the Railroad before Canada. Harriet Tubman, one of the most prominent and effective conductors, helped hundreds of enslaved people escape their captors and settled in Auburn, N.Y., later in her life.

From poet, playwright and novelist Langston Hughes, to anthropologist and writer Zora Neale Hurston and prolific composer Duke Ellington, New York was also the birthplace of the Harlem Renaissance, which is widely credited with revitalizing Black culture through art, music and writing. The far-reaching effects of this cultural explosion would later influence future activists such as James Baldwin, a Harlem-born novelist and essayist who tackled both Black liberation and the struggles of the LGBTQ community in his writings.Langston Hughes

More recently, New York served as the home of Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. In addition to representing New York’s 12th Congressional District for seven years, Ms. Chisholm became the first Black candidate to run for President of the United States, as well as the first woman to run for her party’s presidential nomination.

Despite all the progress made by these influential activists, artists and politicians, racism and discrimination still permeate American society. While over 400,000 Americans have now lost their lives to COVID-19, it’s clear that Black people are disproportionately affected by the virus. Black Americans were infected and died at a rate 1.5 times their share of the population, with the number jumping to 2.5 in Missouri, Kansas, Wisconsin and Michigan. This disparity points to a deeper entrenched issue of health care inequality. The New York City Commission on Human Rights also released a report featuring testimonials from Black New Yorkers explaining that racism was “inescapable and emotionally taxing” in their day-to-day lives.

In 2020, protests surged across the country in the wake of the police murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, occurring in more than 400 cities and towns across all 50 states and led to a surge in the Black Lives Matter movement. Black Lives Matter began in 2013 as a social media hashtag created by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the 2012 death of Trayvon Martin. These courageous activists, even when faced with a militarized police response, never wavered in their commitment to end horrific police brutality and violence against Black communities. In New York, the Assembly Majority took quick action to show that we won’t stand by while this violence occurs and passed new laws to help hold bad police officers accountable, promote transparency and begin rebuilding trust between communities and the police.

Kamala HarrisWe have just seen history being made with the election of Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black woman to hold the position in the United States. History has also been made on Capitol Hill. In 2020, a record number of Black women were elected to Congress, which builds on the history made in 2018 when a record 57 Black Members were sworn into the 116th Congress. , In addition, we’ve begun to see monuments to controversial political figures and Confederate soldiers come down, as communities across the country reckon with the racism and violence that stains our nation’s past and present.

Black History Month serves as a time to not only honor and remember the victories of the past, but to motivate us to continue on the path toward true equality. Together, we can continue the work started by these pioneering activists and finally bring their goals – and our country’s founding ideals – to fruition.

As always, my door is open. If you have any questions about this or any other community issue, please don’t hesitate to reach out and contact my office at paulina@nyassembly.gov or at 914.723.1115.
Amy R. Paulin

Footnotes
nps.gov/afbg/learn/historyculture/african-burial-ground-in-history.htm
weeksvillesociety.org/our-vision-what-we-do
harriet-tubman.org/moses-underground-railroad
womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/shirley-chisholm
npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/09/23/914427907/as-pandemic-deaths-add-up-racial-disparities-persist-and-in-some-cases-worsen
thecity.nyc/2020/6/9/21286102/black-new-yorkers-describe-racism-as-inescapable-in-quietly-released-human-rights-report
ipsos.com/en-us/knowledge/society/Protests-in-the-wake-of-George-Floyd-killing-touch-all-50-states
library.law.howard.edu/civilrightshistory/BLM
thehill.com/homenews/campaign/524263-record-number-of-black-women-elected-to-congress-in-2020
fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL30378.pdf
cnn.com/2020/06/09/us/confederate-statues-removed-george-floyd-trnd/index.html

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Written by Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 29 December 2020

Created: 29 December 2020

Last Updated: 29 December 2020

Hits: 4781

Michael Aloni on the set of The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem, Photo Credit Diana BletterWe last saw Michael Aloni at New York’s Central Synagogue where he had joined the cast of the breakout Israeli series Shtisel to discuss it with fans in the United States. Aloni who played Akiva, an ultra-orthodox young man searching for meaning and a spouse had become the heart throb of the Jewish community.

Now Aloni is filming a new series based on a best selling novel, The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem. The book takes place in the early 1900’s when Israel, then Palestine, was under Turkish rule. The article below was written by Israeli-based writer and friend of Scarsdale10583 Diana Bletter who was on the film set in Safed Israel and chatted with Aloni. It was first published in the Jerusalem Post. 

Up in the hills of Safed, in a picturesque cobblestone alleyway, actors Michael Aloni and Swell Ariel Or stood together recently and hugged during the filming of The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem, a TV series based on Sarit Yishai-Levy’s best-selling novel. The story of the multi-generational Ermoza family, set in the early-mid 20th century, actually takes place in Jerusalem, but most of the series was filmed in Safed. The city’s ancient streets — without too many air conditioning units — make the vintage cars and costumes seem authentic.

It was a chilly, drizzly day, the 70th day of filming, with 10 more days to go. During a pause between sprinkles of rain, actors who play extras walked up the narrow alley in period costumes, passing the signs plastered on building walls in the old-fashioned font of the time, and a clothing store filled with vintage clothes. The series starts in 1917, at the time of the Ottoman Empire, and continues through Israel’s War of Independence. The day’s shooting was now during the British Mandate and a large British flag fluttered by a shop window.

Or, the series’ leading actress, dressed in her role as Luna Ermoza, (in her breakout role), walked up the street; her father in the series, Gavriel Ermoza, played by Aloni, (of Shtisel fame), ran after her. He showed Or a newspaper article and said, “I didn’t want you to see this when you were alone…” and then put his arms around her for a dramatic moment.

“CUT!” yelled the director, Oded Davidoff.

Three extras on set during a break - photo credit Diana Bletter.WELL, VIEWERS will have to wait in suspense to find out what happens until the series airs in Israel on Yes TV in early summer. There is not yet a release date for countries around the world, but Danna Stern, managing director of Yes Studios, which distributes the series, said she has “no doubt this show will be a success, and I don’t say that often.” Drama Quarterly.com just named Beauty Queen one of the top 20 shows to watch in 2021.

On the film set was Dafna Prenner, co-CEO of Artza Productions, the series’ producers. She and her partner, Shai Eines, had their eye on the novel ever since it was published in 2016 and then translated into 11 languages. Prenner said that a book that sells well in Israel might sell 10,000 copies; Levy’s novel sold 300,000, making it one of the best-selling books published in Israel in the past 20 or 30 years. The first two seasons of the series were created by Shlomo Mashiach and Ester Namdar Tamam and written by Mashiach. The series also stars Hila Saada (The Baker and the Beauty), Itzik Cohen (Fauda), and Dov Navon (Cash Register).

Prenner said that this period drama has been one of the most expensive to make in Israel. It was originally supposed to be filmed in the Ukraine but when “Corona hit,” she said, “we had to move everything to Israel,” increasing production costs another two million shekels.

There have been few shows depicting what life was like in the early 1900s, Prenner said, first in what was then Palestine and then the early days of Israel. Vintage clothes were hard to find and sometimes had to be sewn, and the makeup artist had to work hard to make sure everything from hairstyles (including metal clips) to mustaches were just right.

Aloni with stylist: Photo Credit Nati LeviThe Beauty Queen of Jerusalem is a story about members of a Sephardic family, also known as Spagnuolo Jews, because they made way to Jerusalem after Spain expelled the Jews in 1492. The Ermoza family speaks Spanish-Judeo, a dialect of Ladino, and because they have been in Jerusalem for so many generations, they feel superior to newer immigrants. According to Aloni, whose own family stretches back nine generations in Israel, the specificity of the story is what makes it appeal to international audiences.

“When you write something that’s very particular and seems provincial and personal, you can hit the hearts of people,” Aloni said in an exclusive interview between shooting scenes in Safed. When Aloni first started filming Shtisel he didn’t think anyone would even see it. “I never imagined it to be so successful,” he said. “Even the Arab world is watching the show. I know because I get messages from Arab viewers on my social media all the time.”

Aloni said that what makes this series so unique is that the politics and complexities of the time were so special. During Turkish rule, Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem worked together as merchants. The tensions started to increase during the British rule, Aloni said, and then the series focuses its tale on “Israel on its way to becoming a country.”

The director of the show, Oded Davidoff, “gives us freedom to be totally in character and own every moment,” Aloni said.

The show will have 22 episodes and each episode is an hour long. Prenner said that in Israel, the entire series is shot at the same time, unlike in the United States.
While the show is based on the novel, the series has its own story lines. Aloni said he feels that the book will work better as a series than a film because there is more opportunity to develop different plots and “add something new.” He said that when he first read the book, he cried for the last 70 pages.

During a break in the filming in a clothing shop, Or sat outside with her boyfriend in the series, Israel Ogalbo, better known as a star in Survivor and Big Brother. They said they were going to be sad when the shooting ended; since August, they have been working in the production along with more than 30 production crew members who circled the set offering hot tea and warm crepes on the cold day.

Aloni said the essence of the novel, as well as the series, is the story of a family. He cited Leo Tolstoy’s quote from the novel Anna Karenina, “All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

The series follows members of the Ermoza family who, Aloni said, have been cursed to live without love.

“Family is family,” Aloni said. “Life is full of choices we make that we have to live with.” He paused for another thoughtful moment and then added, “and we carry our family’s history on our shoulders and in our hearts.”

National Jewish Book Award Nominee Diana Bletter is the author of the novel, A Remarkable Kindness (HarperCollins, August 2015). Her first book, The Invisible Thread: A Portrait of Jewish American Women, (in collaboration with prize-winning photographer Lori Grinker) was nominated for a National Jewish Book Award. Her memoir, The Mom Who Took Off On Her Motorcycle, has been featured on The Jerusalem Post and www.hairpin.com. Her latest book is Big Up Yourself: It’s About Time You Like Being You.