Shalom Auslander: Difference between revisions

'''Shalom Auslander''' (born 1970) is an [[United States|American]] novelist, [[memoir]]ist, and essayist. He grew up in ana [[Haredistrict Judaism|HarediOrthodox Jewish]] neighborhood in [[Monsey, New York]], where he describes himself as having been "raised like a veal", a reference to his strict religious upbringing.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15059329 Shalom Auslander, Voicing a Comic 'Lament'], ''[[Fresh Air]]'', October 8, 2007. Accessed October 9, 2007.</ref><ref>Auslander, Shalom. [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/arts/01foreskinfirstchap.html "Foreskin's Lament"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', September 28, 2007. Accessed October 9, 2007.</ref> His writing style is notable for its Jewish perspective, existentialist themes, biting satire and black humor. His non-fictionnonfiction often draws comparisons to [[David Sedaris]], while his fiction has drawn comparisons to [[Franz Kafka]], [[Samuel Beckett]], and [[Groucho Marx]].<ref>Reese, Jennifer (2007-10-05), "Shtick Figure". ''Entertainment Weekly'' (957):73</ref><ref>Bob Minzesheimer (2007-11-01), "Round-up: Non-fiction, in brief." ''USA Today''.</ref> His books have been translated into over a dozen languages, and are published around the world.

==Early life and education==

Auslander was born and raised in [[Monsey, New York|Monsey]], and attended Yeshiva of Spring Valley for elementary school, and then high school at the [[Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy]] in [[Manhattan]].<ref>Brawarsky, Sandee. [http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=18341 "An Orthodox 'cast-off' holds God accountable"], ''[[The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles]]'', October 19, 2007. Accessed February 14, 2008. "By the time he was in high school, the Manhattan Talmudic Academy, he was shoplifting the kinds of expensive clothing his classmates wore, smoking dope, and skipping classes to go to museums, bookstores, and porn shops."</ref> He lived briefly in Teaneck, New Jersey, and Brooklyn, New York, before moving to the small town of Woodstock, New York. In 2019, he moved to Los Angeles, "because I'm a schmuck".{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}}

Auslander has published a collection of short stories, ''Beware of God'' (March 2006), a best-selling memoir, ''[[Foreskin's Lament: A Memoir]]'' (October 2007),<ref>Reese, Jennifer. [https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20059034,00.html2007/10/01/foreskins-lament/ "Book Review: Foreskin's Lament (2007)"], ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''. Accessed October 9, 2007.</ref> and two critically acclaimed novels. His work, often confronting his Haredireligious Jewish background, has been featured on [[Public Radio International]]'s ''[[This American Life]]'' and in ''[[The New Yorker]]''. He has also written for Esquire Magazine, Gentlemen's Quarterly, The New York Times, and many othersother publications. He was a finalist for the 2003–20042003–04 [[Koret Jewish Book Award]] for "Young Writer on Jewish Themes".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.koretfoundation.org/news/press_releases/pr_040303.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070524151223/http://www.koretfoundation.org/news/press_releases/pr_040303.html|title=The Koret Foundation ::|archivedate=24 May 2007|work=koretfoundation.org|accessdate=7 April 2015}}</ref>

In "Foreskin's Lament", Auslander wrote of his mother, "who was the belle of the misery ball", and his father, who was angry and uncommunicative. As a child, he went through the house and destroyed all the pornography he found. As an adult, he rebelled against his religious upbringing.<ref>{{cite web|last=Foley|first=Dylan|title=10 Minutes with Shalom Auslander|url=httphttps://www.religionnews.com/index.php?2007/tenminutes10/10_minutes_with_shalom_auslander18/10-minutes-with-shalom-auslander/|work=October 17, 2007|date=18 October 2007 |publisher=Religion News Service|accessdate=January 19, 2012}}</ref>

In January 2012, Auslander published his first novel, ''Hope: A Tragedy'', a finalist for the 2013 Thurber Prize, which envisions a homeowner in upstate New York finding an elderly and foul-mouthed Anne Frank hiding in his attic.<ref>{{cite news|last=Maslin|first=Janet|title=Anne Frank, Still Writing In the Attic|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/books/hope-a-tragedy-by-shalom-auslander-review.html?_r=1&ref=books|accessdate=January 19, 2012|newspaper=New York Times|date=January 18, 2012}}</ref> It won the [[Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Prize]] (2013).<ref name=jq2012>[http://jewishquarterly.org/jq-wingate-prize/wingate-prize-2013/ Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Prize 2013] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105201924/http://jewishquarterly.org/jq-wingate-prize/wingate-prize-2013/ |date=November 5, 2012 }}</ref> In 2020, the novel was named by both American and British critics as "the funniest novel of the past decade".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-sunday-times-books-of-the-decade-2010-2019-jpcp3rkx0|title = The Sunday Times books of the decade 2010-2019|last1 = Holgate|first1 = Andrew}}</ref><ref name="WSJ">{{Cite news |last=Sacks |first=Sam |date=2020-09-18 |title=Fiction: Family Meal |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/fiction-family-meal-11600439600 |access-date=2020-12-17 |issn=0099-9660}}</ref> Leading British literary critic Andrew Holgate, retiring in 2022, named ''Hope: A Tragedy'' one of the 23 Best Books of his 23-year career.

Auslander wrote and created the [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]] television program, ''[[Happyish]]'', which shot a pilot with [[Philip Seymour Hoffman]], whom he met while adapting his novel, ''Hope: A Tragedy'', for the screen. After Hoffman's death on February 2 February, 2014, it appeared that the TV project would be discontinued. However, but it was subsequently re-cast,recast with [[Steve Coogan]] in the lead role, and premiered on 5 April 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2015/01/happyish-series-oickup-shameless-renewed-season-6-1201348468/|title="Happyish" Picked Up To Series, "Shameless" Renewed For Season 6 - Deadline|author=Nellie Andreeva|work=Deadline|date=12 January 2015|accessdate=7 April 2015}}</ref>

His latest novel, ''Mother for Dinner'', tells the story of a family of assimilated Cannibal-Americans, tasked with consuming (as is their tradition) the body of their deceased mother's body. A dark comedy about the cost of identity politics and the weight of the past upon the present, it was called a "riotous dissection of cultural formation" by ''Publishers Weekly'', and a "brilliant satire on tribalism" by Booklist. In the ''Wall Street Journal'', Sam Sacks wrote: "Everyone has different ideas about what's funny, and for me, the gold standard is dark Jewish humor — thehumor—the more masochistic and taboo, the better. This sort of joking is scarce today — culturaltoday—cultural homogenization and the current moral panic over giving offense have turned it into something like samizdat — butsamizdat—but at least we have Shalom Auslander."<ref name="WSJ" /> In the UK, the book was met with unanimous praise, with noted book critic Stuart Kelly calling it a "work of genius."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/books/book-review-mother-dinner-shalom-auslander-3115329|title = Book review: Mother for Dinner, by Shalom Auslander| date=27 January 2021 }}</ref> It'sIts omission from the Booker Longlist prompted an op-ed in The Times to ask, "But why no Mother for Dinner by Shalom Auslander, which is funny, in bad taste and a satire of identity politics?" <ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/booker-prize-longlist-2021-d5bkdpxpv#main-container|title = The Booker Prize longlist: Are these the best books of 2021?|last1 = Millen|first1 = Robbie}}</ref>

In 2021, Auslander began a YouTube series entitledtitled "UNGODLY: Good Lessons from a Bad God",<ref name="youtube.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBiHzj_YLlgo9l1eqrURNNA|title = Ungodly - YouTube|website = [[YouTube]]}}</ref> which re-examinesreexamines the Bible assumingwith God (cruel, short-tempered, and vindictive) as the antagonist of the story, "as someone we should never be like." Done in a chapter-and-verse format, the goal is to eventually complete the Old and New Testaments.

Auslander is married to the artist and writer [[Orli Auslander]], and currently resides in [[Los Angeles, California]].<ref>McGrath, Charles. [http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/02/arts/lament.php "Shalom Auslander: An Orthodox Jewish outsider grapples with his past"], ''[[International Herald Tribune]]'', October 3, 2007. Accessed October 9, 2007.</ref><ref name="edwards">{{Cite web |url=https://medium.com/@edwardsrobt/pretty-shitty-monkeys-a-surprisingly-optimistic-conversation-wit-shalom-auslander-a983527941d1 |title=Pretty Shitty Monkeys: A Surprisingly Optimistic Conversation with Shalom Auslander |last=Edwards |first=Robert |date=2018-09-10 |website=Medium |language=en |access-date=2019-08-29}}</ref> They have two children.

* The Los Angeles Times: This Year, God Should Atone to Us [https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-09-26/in-this-dismal-year-yom-kippur-needs-a-rethink]

* The New Yorker: The Playoffs [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/01/15/playoffs]

* ''[[UnGodly]]'' (2021) <ref name="youtube.com"/>

[[Category:American1970 male short story writersbirths]]

[[Category:LivingAmerican peoplemale short story writers]]

[[Category:JewishWriters Americanfrom shortTeaneck, storyNew writersJersey]]