The Finkler Question

I am still enjoying immensely Howard Jacobson's book The Finkler Question. One of the themes of the book is Jews who are ashamed to be identified with Israel. One of the main characters, Samuel Finkler, is asked by a group of Jews in the entertainment industries and in academics to be the leader of a group called ASHamed Jews.

The humor is brilliant. Most Jews identify themselves with the Democratic Party, and with people like Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama. They need an outlet to let the world know they are ashamed to be identified with Israel's aggressive self-defense.

Another outstanding feature of Jacobson's writing is the dialogue between characters. A person says something, and then the other person repeats some of the words used by the other character, and takes the conversation in a different direction, putting a new emphasis on the words. I am going to try this out in interactions with people.