Rating: 
Summary: It makes you think
Review: A great narrative following Lisa's quest for what it means to be jewish in a modern generation.
Rating:
Summary: A genuine and relevant memoir
Review: As I read this book, I found myself relating again and again to what Ms. Schiffman has experienced. It was a moving experience to read of someone else's journey to accept and experience being Jewish in the modern American world. While I wished the author would find a sure and clean answer to the dilemma of generation j (maybe one that I could adopt?), I came away appreciative that the author stayed honest throughout about the struggle to accept one's own Jewishness.
Rating: 
Summary: More personal than I expected
Review: I feel that this book was somewhat mis-marketed. It is a very personal, ideosyncratic journey through Judaism in a very specific place, with very specific issues. I had hoped for more of a broad survey of how young Jews in America are approaching their Judaism, the questions they are asking, and the answers they are arriving at.Instead, it is primarily Schiffman's own personal experiences, flavored heavily by her own prejudices. While this can be the basis for an interesting exploration, I don't think she ever really examined her fundamental beliefs and postulates in a way that provides her a usefull base from which to extrapolate her own experiences.
Rating:
Summary: You were talking about me, sometimes you weren't
Review: I found the book to be a fast read, with lots of humour and soul-searching. I thought Lisa was very brave to open her life to the world to see. Especially something as personal as a search for Jewish identity. Her words rang true. I saw myself in much of her book. Not her method of search but certainly as a thirty something person, I could relate to many of her feelings. Tonight, (11-15-00) I saw her speak on the subject. She talked about this review page and I ran home to write. She made me smile for the entire hour. She was a delight. I can't wait to read her next book. To Lisa: How about a Saturday night with husbands. Call the JCC president, Kim.
Rating:
Summary: Pointless Journey
Review: I have read reviews on this book and people say they are disappointed because they expected to read a deeper book about Judaism in the generation she is describing. However, she says she is keeping field notes on *her* personal journey. Right away this gave me a heads up that this book is not intended to be a deep study of Judaism at a particular generation or moment in time so I would not give the book a poor recommendation for not delivering expectations it never was intended to do. The author is raised by atheists, married a Christian and is a "non practicing" Jewish woman wanting to discover her own Jewish heritage. Her path might be very different from those who had a Jewish education, (she did not have this benefit), fell away from Judaism and are seeking to return. That being said I will review the book as it is written. The author seems concerned about the small Jewish population in the United States and the rate of intermarriage. This is good information for people to know. Yet she herself chose to intermarry yet does not want to be assimilated and erase Judaism from her life. I think it is brave and honest to admit some ambivilance about growing up Jewish in a predominantly Christian culture. Why? Because of anti-semetism. I myself was called "Christ killer" while growing up and this was in a sophisticated metropolitan area so I can understand this Some of her actions on her path to discover Judaism are bizarre but she is writing about her experiences, not mine. One doesn't judge a book on the author's actions, but the merit of its writing. Therefore it is a pretty good read. I am happy that she became proud of being Jewish, however following through with Jewish studies, finding a rabbi to guide her would have made me happier.
Rating: 
Summary: The Misguided Ms. J
Review: I read through this book with real enjoyment, thinking that the author was headed in the right direction. For the most part, this book is a bright and entertainingly written log of the author's experiences in pursuing her Jewish roots. There are some lighthearted explanations of Jewish cultural icons and lifestyles, which will clear up the confusion and misunderstanding of many Jews. Her meetings with Rabbis, intellects, and her husband, are processed well, and intimately illuminated through her own conscious. The zenith is reached on the day that she and her husband affix a mezuzah to their doorframe.She describes that moment filled with intense physical warmth and suggests contact with G-d. Did that moment really happen? I wonder? Soon after that, on the last three pages, she takes us to the wedding of her Jewish friend, who will be married by "witches" ---after failing to find a suitable Rabbi! In a scene of bad taste the reader is taken to the room where their bodies are painted in preparation for a ceremony that will be in the nude. The author instructs the body painter to add a Jewish star on her back (see the cover). At that moment I felt that the author is a fraud, and she is masquerading as a modern Jewish thinker. I question her real intention. I hope she will one day find the true path of "derech eretz" (respect) for the Torah and our our Creator.
Rating:
Summary: Memoir
Review: Ms. Schiffman's book is not at all what I thought it would be. From the jacket, it appeared to answer all of our questions about why our generation grew up in non-religious homes but we seem to be lingering back to our parents/grandparents Judaism. Problem... she doesn't discuss this. She talks about her own life and why she hates/loves Judaism. She's angry that she couldn't find a rabbi to marry her, but she married a gentile. Sorry Lisa, but I have better things to read than your life story!
Rating: 
Summary: not worth reading
Review: The cover of this book suggests that the author was going to write an in-depth book about people living in this post- holocaust generation of Jews. However, she talks only about her own experiences without covering anyone else who happens to be included in "Gen J." She obviously assumes she is the only person included in "generation J" and forgets, or rather doesn't care about other people's opinions.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining
Review: This book doesn't really have much advice for those looking for help in their own search. This is, however a very entertaining book if that's what you're looking for.
Rating:
Summary: a good magazine article stretched into a mediocre book
Review: This book is a story of the author's personal adventures rather than a intelligent exploration of Judaism, so if you're looking for the latter don't bother to read it. If the most entertaining and interesting portions of this book had been boiled down into a magazine article, it would have been a cute, amusing 15 minute read. A few of the stories I liked--her antecdotes about the mikveh gave me a better feel for what that ritual was all about, and I think I understand the Jew/Buddhist relationship a bit better than I did a few days ago. But I'm not sure it should have been turned into a full book, and she padded it out with bits of silly whining (in the "why won't the rabbi help me marry a gentile" vein) and stories of utterly icky behavior (misc. tattoos, including the very last story). At the end of the book I was left thinking "Eeew, Gross!" Bottom line: worth skimming but not worth reading.
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