FRIDAY FINDS for August 16

Every week, MizB hosts FRIDAY FINDS on her blog, Should Be Reading. FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased).

I find more books than I can read. Whether I buy them or borrow them from the library or more often, these days, they are sent to me by an author or publisher who wants a review. But I have a small list of must have books. Usually books that are out of print. I hunt for them online at Amazon, in dusty old used book stores, yard sales… Well I found one I have been searching for for ages: WHO EVER HEARD OF AN IRISH JEW? by David Marcus. There was a time I had dozens of copies. I used to give them to people with a narrow view of who the Irish are. But one day I gave away my very last copy without realizing it and by that time the book was out of print. And there as no Amazon. Since Amazon came along I have really narrowed down my list of must have but impossible to find books. But this is one of the books that eluded me. Oh there would be the odd copy on Amazon for $90, but come on, I’m not crazy – contrary to popular belief. It is only a 128 page paperback, not the freaking Book of Kells. But this week I got lucky. There were loads of copies available for some reason. There were five ranging in price from $19.99 to $94.93 and there were five ranging in price from $0.01 to $2.00. Well you won’t find one for $0.01 now. And it is in perfect condition, just yellowed with age. So I am quite pleased with my find.

WHO EVER HEARD OF AN IRISH JEW? is a collection of short stories about being Irish and Jewish. Some of them are hysterical. The title story explores the nature of class and racial prejudice. They are eight wonderful short stories some of which originally appeared in the Irish Press.

David Marcus, not the president of PayPal and not the Israeli hero, was Irish and Jewish and he was the Literary Editor of the Irish Press (an Irish newspaper controlled by the De Vallera family and was in print from 1931 until 1995).