Description

An intimate memoir from a founding editor of Ms magazine who grew up in a Jewish immigrant family mired in secrets haunted by their dread of shame and stigma determined to hide their every imperfectionand in denial or despair when they couldnt

The word shanda is defined as shame or disgrace in Yiddish This book Shanda tells the story of three generations of complicated intense twentiethcentury Jews for whom the desire to fit in and the fear of public humiliation either drove their aspirations or crushed their spirit

In her deeply engaging astonishingly candid memoir author and activist Letty Cottin Pogrebin exposes the fiercelyguarded lies and intricate coverups woven by dozens of members of her extended family Beginning with her own longsuppressed secret the story spirals through the hidden lives of her parents and relativesrevealing the truth about their origins personal traumas marital misery abandoned children religious transgressions sexual identity radical politics and supposedly embarrassing illnesses While unmasking their charades and disguises Pogrebin also showcases her familys remarkable talent for reinvention in a narrative that is by turns touching searing and surprisingly universal