Tuesday, November 16, 2010

naomi ragen

i have always found that reading naomi ragen's books has been a guilty pleasure. you want to hate them but they are just too much fun to read.
the first naomi ragen book that i have read was jephte's daughter . though i enjoyed the book very much i regret to inform you that i have no recollection of it because i read it so long ago. naomi ragen was to me the first of a genre of writers who write about frum people because this is how they grew up, and they don't hate frum people and they dont have everyone throwing off the yoke of torah at the end of the book like an erica jong, belva plan or howard fast book.
naomi ragen isnt afraid to confront social justice issues in the frum community . people don't always agree with her conclusions but i think its good to voice awareness. she criticises to provoke change not to merely air dirty laundry.
naomi ragen recently came out with a new book the tenth song. i haven't read the book yet but i plan to. its already on my kindle.
a few days ago i went to borders for a book reading with naomi ragen. i had to go. i was not disappointed. she  is conservative middle aged  modern orthodox woman who possesses extreme fiestiness.
there was a small crowd at borders for her book reading which i found sad for such a well known author. its always fun to meet a favorite writer. it adds a whole other dimention!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have never read any of her books, but she does sound like a great author. Is there one specific book of hers that you would recommend?

Anonymous said...

I also love reading Naomi Ragen books. I can't remember the first one I read but once I started, I couldn't stop. I didn't know she had a new book out but now I will look for it. Thanks!

frum single female said...

frayda- your welcome.
david-
my favorite book of naomi ragen's is THE SACRIFICE OF TAMAR which is about a frum woman who is married and is raped by a black man but doesnt tell anyone. i also really liked her play called THE WOMEN'S MINYAN which has nothing to do with jewish women and prayer. its about a woman who was abused by her husband and seeking divorce from him and her husband spread lies about her and she wasnt allowed to see her twelve children

frum single female said...

except for the book THE GHOST OF HANNAH MENDES i really liked all of naomi ragen's books.

Anonymous said...

I have read one of her books and I can see why you are a big fan

(BTW, I recently started my own blog at lawyerdov@blogspot.com )

frum single female said...

lawyer dov- cool, i'll check it out. so glad you have made the plunge!

הצעיר שלמה בן רפאל לבית שריקי ס"ט said...

It's funny, I was just thinking about looking into her work. Too bad I missed the Borders thing though...