Discussion questions for The Outside World by Tova Mirvis

Hi all,
Here is the information about "The Outside World" by Tova Mirvis. Hope to see you January 8 at 7:00 pm to talk about this great book. I have added a list of recommended reading if you liked this book. Happy New Year!!!!
Val

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Editorial Reviews:
From Publishers Weekly: With a sharp and sympathetic eye for the oft neglected and misunderstood worlds of ultra-Orthodox and Modern Orthodox Judaism, Mirvis (The LadiesAuxiliary) crafts a compelling narrative that delves into the lives of twofamilies, each struggling with its own insecurities and difficulties. In this second novel, 22-year-old Orthodox Tzippy, born and bred in JewishBrooklyn and insulated from secular society but secretly curious and eager to experience it, is barraged with meddlesome questions and with a slew of seemingly endless carbon-copy dates intended to facilitate her marriage to a reputable yeshiva boy before she turns into a spinster. Meanwhile, not too far away, Naomi and Joel, Modern Orthodox Jews, are straining to knock some sense into their suddenly ultra-religious son, Bryan (now callinghimself by his Hebrew name Baruch), who has morphed from a head-banging,jeans-wearing, girl-chasing jock into a soul-searching, Talmud-studying,black-hat Jew interested only in immersing himself in God's laws and the Torah. When these two formerly separate worlds collide, parents, siblings and spouses must reflect on what their faith means to them and what to do when their beliefs unexpectedly diverge from those of loved ones. At times giddily humorous, at times stirring and sorrowful, Mirvis's insightful novel is packed with convincing detail, from descriptions of yarmulkes(fancifully embroidered or stolid black velvet) to the varieties of wigs worn by married ultra-Orthodox women. The characters' frequent use of distinctively Jewish terms and ideas gives the novel a foreign air, but the universal themes of growing up and choosing a fitting life to lead will resonate with readers of all faiths.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal:Adult/High School–Tzippy Goldman, 22, has sat through too many first datesin Brooklyn hotel lobbies. Her mother has been planning her wedding sinceshe was little, and still she's not married. Hungry for life experience, she wants to go to Israel. At the same time, Bryan Miller is searching formore meaning than his Orthodox Jewish lifestyle and family provide. He changes his name to Baruch and decides to give up plans to attend Columbia University in order to study the Talmud at yeshiva in Jerusalem. The move leads him to become ultra-Orthodox, and to Tzippy. They find that though they love one another deeply, they must constantly seek a balance between tradition, faith, and the outside world. This novel is absorbing and memorable in its presentation of the rhythms of everyday life, the joy of doing, and the need to find one's place in the community. Weddings,Sabbaths, and seders are richly detailed, and the characters, especially the couple and their mothers, are finely drawn. Mirvis writes with compassion and humor about the intersection of life and faith. Readers get a strong sense of this unique world, but the themes are universal.–SusanneBardelson, Kitsap Regional Library, WACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.All rights reserved.

Other novels on Jews in America:
Giving up America by Pearl Abraham (0)
Only Yesterday by S.Y. Agnon (0)
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant (several in HCPL)
Miriam's Kitchen by Elizabeth Ehrlich (0)
For the Relief of Unbearable Urges by Nathan Englander (0)
Jew vs Jew by Samuel G. Freedman (0)
Bee Season by Myra Goldberg (11)
Being Jewish by Ari L. Goldman (6)- Non-fiction
Kaaterskill Falls by Allegra Goodman (9)
Four Mothers by Shifra Horn (1)
The Chosen by Chaim Potok (many)
Lovingkindness by Anne Roiphe (1)