Unheroic conduct : the rise of heterosexuality and the invention of the Jewish man /

Boyarin's book is a scholarly, well-written, and highly detailed exegesis of Talmudic texts. Boyarin argues that one theme running through much of ancient and modern Jewish writing is the picture of the gentle, studious male reading the Torah. Such a male is depicted as very desirable to Jewish women, who do much of the work outside the home. This theme, contends Boyarin, shows that the Euramerican ideal of the tough, dominant male provider and passive female housewife is not universal. However, that Talmudic theme contains its own misogyny, which Boyarin denounces. He discusses the lives and works of Sigmund Freud and Theodor Herzl, claiming to throw light on psychoanalysis and Zionism as co-constructors of the modern Jewish man. Boyarin also comments on Freud's patient "Anna O" (whose real name was Bertha Pappenheim), whom he admires greatly as an early militant leader of feminism and antihomophobia. Upper-division undergraduates and above. R. W. Smith; California State University, Northridge

Boyarin (Talmudic culture, Berkeley) argues that modern Jewish culture has assimilated the macho male ethos of Western civilization. The result is the creation of the "muscle Jew," which divorces Jewish men from their emphasis on study, prayer, and gentleness. Ironically, in an effort to counter the anti-Semetic image of the so-called "Jewish wimp," Jewish men have abetted a process of internal colonization of Jewish culture by mainstream Christian culture and have adopted the anti-Semites' aggressive heterosexuality. Boyarin advocates a re-creation of the early Jewish male culture, based on the Talmud, which did not see inherent virtue in sports or aggressive behavior, and which he believes also lacked homophobia. In the process, he hopes traditional Jewish culture can also re-create itself without resorting to misogyny. A provocative work that will inspire controversy; strongly recommended for Judaica collections.‘Frederic Krome, Northern Kentucky Univ., Highland Heights (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.