Members of
the Tribe

The Critical Response

 

NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (Eli N. Evans): “Richard Kluger has written the best novel yet about the Jews who settled in the South…. With insight and humor Kluger delineates Seth’s change from Northern immigrant to Southern Jew, through descriptions of Southern smells, Jesus-loving friends, and Seth’s slow adoption of the accents and cadence of his new home…. In the second half, Kluger marshals the skills of legal dramatization that were honed in…Simple Justice and captures the ambience of the trial….”

 

CHICAGO TRIBUNE (Clarus J. Backes): “…This excellent novel…is a sobering story in many respects, filled with anguish and a sense of injustice, of hopes carefully nurtured and casually betrayed.”

 

LOS ANGELES TIMES (Michael J. Bandler): “The most intelligently conceived, important American Jewish novel in many seasons. In a book that is free of he stereotyped situations of the genre, Kluger poses questions and uncovers truths that too many pop commentators on the American Jewish experience have ignored. We’re all richer for it.”

 

TIME MAGAZINE (John Skow): “Kluger… borrows from history by making inventive use of the Leo Frank case…. The author makes no pronouncements about why Christian tribalism periodically festers with hatred of Jews. He merely holds to his story of an American Jew who believes, despite agonizing evidence to the contrary, that this hatred was an aberration, and not a basic part of his country’s character. Kluger’s novel makes his point with an impressive measure of good sense and strength.”

 

NEWSWEEK (James Baker): “…a courtroom spellbinder.”

 

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR (Mark Stevens): “With a searing message about the futility of racism, backed by a tale which rings of realism, Richard Kluger’s Members of the Tribe serves as a valuable exploration into the frame of mind that breeds bigotry.”

 

SATURDAY REVIEW (Lincoln Caplan): “Kluger’s is a bold, intelligent book, another noteworthy achievement for an accomplished writer.”

 

MIAMI HERALD (Edith Gold): “…much more than a crime novel. It is powerful, ironic…and completely engrossing. Highly recommended, especially for the complacent.”

 

PENTHOUSE: “…a moving, thoughtful parable of Jewish identity.”

 

KANSAS CITY STAR (Michael B. Margolies): “…a fascinating story …an excellent treatment of the South in the decades following the Civil War.”