My Father’s Paradise won the National Book Critics Circle Award. Since 2008, the Jewish communities of Baltimore, Denver, Long Island (NY), Northern New Jersey, Philadelphia, Portland (OR), and The Twin Cities (MN) have chosen My Father’s Paradise as their “One Book” community read, using the book as a springboard for wide-ranging events and year-long discussions of culture, history, and identity. If you’ve selected My Father’s Paradise for your book club or community read, here are some resources that may help spark a lively conversation.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
The paperback edition of My Father’s Paradise (cover above) contains a lengthy Q & A with the author and several pages of discussion questions. For clubs using the hardcover, Philadelphia’s One Book, One Jewish Community has produced an exceptional readers’ guide, complete with questions for discussion. Download the readers’ guide here.
FAMILY TREE
Unraveling the ties among the main characters in My Father’s Paradise can sometimes be tricky. On the Same Page Long Island has put together a helpful one-page family tree here.
HOW ARIEL CAME TO WRITE MY FATHER’S PARADISE
Algonquin Books’ Conversation with the Author
Los Angeles Times story about Ariel & his father Yona
Ariel’s essay for Algonquin’s literary journal The Algonkian
Listen to Ariel and his father Yona on NPR’s The Diane Rehm Show
Hear Ariel discuss My Father’s Paradise on Dallas NPR station KERA
DISCOVER THE 3,000-YEAR-OLD LANGUAGE OF ARAMAIC
Read Ariel’s feature for Smithsonian Magazine on the scholarly hunt for the last speakers of Aramaic— the language of Jesus, of the Jewish Talmud, and, incidentally, of Ariel’s own dad.
Read Ariel’s essay on how his father taught Hollywood the native tongue of Jesus
COOK LIKE ARIEL’S GRANDMOTHER, SAVTA MIRYAM
Download Savta Miryam’s recipes for kubeh matfonia (cracked wheat dumplings in beet-tomato soup) and yaprak (stuffed grape leaves), as recalled by her youngest child, Ayala