In the original dustsheet. Black cloth binding with silver title on the spine.

F.B.A. provides an in-depth photographic presentation of this item to stimulate your feeling and touch. More traditional book descriptions are immediately available.

I have read Shalom`s work before in a previous book of his called, Hope A Tragedy, which I think is possibly the best book ever written in the whole entire history of book writing. So I was really looking forward to reading Foreskin’s Lament and it did not disappoint. In a nutshell, it is a book about Shalom`s childhood growing up in a highly orthodox Jewish neighbourhood, his rights of passage, his relationship with his family, especially his father and his extremely intense (but not in a good way) relationship with God. I am certain some will find the book highly offensive but I loved the humour, the pathos, the frequent obscenities and the comments to God which made me laugh out loud. It is a very human story and I loved it and I also love him.

Review: I first heard of Shalom Auslander on one of my favorite podcasts ‘This American Life’, he was telling a story about miserable Jewish childhood, it was sad, a little odd at times and … well down right funny. I immediately related with him, and I had to have some more. Shalom Auslander is about to become a Dad unless God doesn’t kill his baby before it is born. He has a very difficult relationship with his God, he thinks that God is out to get him and likes messing with him. Shalom recounts memories from his childhood that made him turn away from his religion and, in turn, his family in the first place and wonders whether the birth of his child will drag him back into the world he and his wife have struggled with for so long. Once finished I almost felt as though he wrote this book as a justification to himself, that he had every right to turn away from his family and that he had every right to hate the God he was brought up to fear and obey.

Shalom Auslander (born 1970) is an American novelist, memoirist, and essayist. He grew up in a strict, Orthodox neighborhood in Monsey, New York, where he describes himself as having been “raised like a veal”, a reference to his strict religious upbringing. His writing style is notable for its existentialist themes, biting satire and black humor. His non-fiction often draws comparisons to David Sedaris, while his fiction has drawn comparisons to Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett, and Groucho Marx. His books have been translated into over a dozen languages and are published around the world.