JMB Book Club – The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen
As part of the exhibition Inventories. The Legacy of Salman Schocken (in German)
Read along!
In his novel The Netanyahus, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, Joshua Cohen approaches the subject of Jewish identity with exuberant imagination and comedy. The campus novel with the subtitle An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family is based on a true story – the visit of the historian Ben-Zion Netanyahu to a college on the US East Coast in the winter of 1959–60.
Wed 2 Jul 2025, 6.30 pm
Where
W. M. Blumenthal Academy,
Klaus Mangold Auditorium
Fromet-und-Moses-Mendelssohn-Platz 1, 10969 Berlin
(Opposite the Museum)
In conversation with literary scholar Sebastian Schirrmeister (University of Hamburg) and Monika Sommerer, head of the JMB library, we will discuss Cohen's masterpiece, which leads us right through the history of Zionism and is perhaps a key to understanding the biography of a very famous family.
The Book
Joshua Cohen: The Netanyahus. An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family. Novel (German version: Die Netanjahus oder vielmehr der Bericht über ein nebensächliches und letztlich sogar unbedeutendes Ereignis in der Geschichte einer sehr berühmten Familie, translated into German by Ingo Herzke, published by Schöffling & Co., 2023)
Book cover of the German translation
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Exhibition Inventories: The Legacy of Salman Schocken: Features & Programs
- Exhibition Webpage
- Inventories (20 May to 12 Oct 2025) – exhibition website with some objects from the exhibition and all audio pieces written and narrated by Joshua Cohen
- Accompanying Events
- Joshua Cohen in Conversation on the Exhibition: 20 May 2025
- Curator-led Tour of the Exhibition: Thu 12 Jun, 17 Jul, 14 Aug & 11 Sep 2025, in German
- Current page: JMB Book Club – The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen: 2 Jul 2025, in German
- For FRIENDS: Preview and reading with Joshua Cohen: 19 May 2025, partly in German and partly in English
- Digital Content
- Jewish department stores and their owners on Jewish Places: Visualization on an interactive map
- See also
- Joshua Cohen, writer
- Salman Schocken, publisher and businessman
