David Herman

David Herman is the JC’s chief fiction reviewer

Latest from David Herman

Books

The Rest of Our Lives review: ‘It’s not clear why this novel should matter to anyone’

British-American writer Ben Markovits’s new Booker-longlisted novel leaves this reviewer cold

2 min read

The Rest of Our Lives review: ‘It’s not clear why this novel should matter to anyone’

The author Mikołaj Łozinski and his latest book

My Name is Stramer review: ‘One of the great east European novels of our time’

2 min read

Prolific: Etgar Keret, who has published numerous short story collections, and written widely for TV and film, and his latest book

Autocorrect by Etgar Keret review: ‘thirty-three troubling short stories’

1 min read

Ralph Blumenau, history teacher dies aged 100

4 min read

The Propagandist review: ‘a devastating account of Vichy France’

Historian Cécile Desprairies’ debut novel is a dark and powerful account of the French men and women who eagerly embraced evil

2 min read

June 27, 2025 14:05

The Propagandist review: ‘a devastating account of Vichy France’

Ellmann’s Joyce: The Biography of a Masterpiece and its Maker, review: ‘a Bloomsday treat’

This is a fascinating tribute to Richard Ellmann, the son of Jewish immigrants from Romania and Ukraine, and James Joyce’s greatest biographer

1 min read

June 13, 2025 16:48

Ellmann’s Joyce: The Biography of a Masterpiece and its Maker, review: ‘a Bloomsday treat’

The Jewish Pedlar review: ‘Anglo-Jewry’s only mass murderer’

This is a fascinating account of a terrible murder by a Jewish pedlar in eighteenth century England and an excellent example of historian Tony Kushner’s important work documenting the life and culture of Jews in Britain

2 min read

June 8, 2025 20:38

The Jewish Pedlar review: ‘Anglo-Jewry’s only mass murderer’

Leading Jewish historian Anson Rabinbach dies at 79

Rabinbach was best known for his writing on Marxism and Nazi Germany

3 min read

May 15, 2025 14:40

Leading Jewish historian Anson Rabinbach dies at 79

The Assault review: ‘return of a classic war novel’

First published in 1982, this book about the choices of ordinary people in war sold more than 200,000 copies and inspired an Oscar-winning film. Now it has been republished with a new introduction

2 min read

May 2, 2025 16:23

The Assault review: ‘return of a classic war novel’

The ordinary choices of ordinary people in post-war Germany

This is a remarkable novel about how everyday Europeans faced up to life as war drew to a close

3 min read

April 4, 2025 11:02

Focus on the unremarkable: Rachel Seiffert and her latest novel

Bernard-Henri Lévy: ‘The war against Hamas and Russia is one battle against the same evil’

The renowned French intellectual speaks to the JC from the Russian front

4 min read

March 13, 2025 11:34

Bernard-Henri Levy delivers a speech during a ceremony organised by the Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF) to pay tribute to the victims of Hamas' October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel (Photo by DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP via Getty Images)

The Chasidic stories that anticipate the parables of Franz Kafka

Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav was one of the great Chasidic writers of the early modern period, and this Pushkin Press translation of his tales of rabbis, robbers, princes and paradoxes is a treasure

1 min read

March 7, 2025 12:51

The Chasidic stories that anticipate the parables of Franz Kafka

33 Place Brugmann review: ‘secrets, betrayal and courage in occupied Brussels’

From RAF pilots and members of the resistance risking their lives, to Jewish refugee nurses caring for the desperately wounded, this American playwright’s first novel is packed with twists and turns

1 min read

February 20, 2025 12:57

33 Place Brugmann review: ‘secrets, betrayal and courage in occupied Brussels’

East Broadway to Whitechapel, review: ‘stirring snapshots of a bygone world’

David Katz’s short stories are a moving evocation of the Jewish world of Brooklyn and the East End, but also the world of Yiddish literature

2 min read

January 17, 2025 14:34

East Broadway to Whitechapel, review: ‘stirring snapshots of a bygone world’

Why Not Let the Leaning Tower Collapse review: ‘big questions on history and morality’

Daniel Snowman is an engaging historian who brings a wide range of subjects to life in this new book of essays

2 min read

November 29, 2024 12:52

Eclectic subjects: Gustav Mahler (left) and Barack Obama

The Thinking Heart review: ‘David Grossman’s dream for Israel omits certain details’

The leading Israeli novelist’s new book fails to ask tough questions about the Jewish state’s implacable enemies

2 min read

November 1, 2024 16:02

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David Herman

Latest from David Herman

The Rest of Our Lives review: ‘It’s not clear why this novel should matter to anyone’

My Name is Stramer review: ‘One of the great east European novels of our time’

Autocorrect by Etgar Keret review: ‘thirty-three troubling short stories’

Ralph Blumenau, history teacher dies aged 100

More from David Herman

The Propagandist review: ‘a devastating account of Vichy France’

Ellmann’s Joyce: The Biography of a Masterpiece and its Maker, review: ‘a Bloomsday treat’

The Jewish Pedlar review: ‘Anglo-Jewry’s only mass murderer’

Leading Jewish historian Anson Rabinbach dies at 79

The Assault review: ‘return of a classic war novel’

The ordinary choices of ordinary people in post-war Germany

Bernard-Henri Lévy: ‘The war against Hamas and Russia is one battle against the same evil’

The Chasidic stories that anticipate the parables of Franz Kafka

33 Place Brugmann review: ‘secrets, betrayal and courage in occupied Brussels’

East Broadway to Whitechapel, review: ‘stirring snapshots of a bygone world’

Why Not Let the Leaning Tower Collapse review: ‘big questions on history and morality’

The Thinking Heart review: ‘David Grossman’s dream for Israel omits certain details’