The comedian and author combines powerful polemic and personal testimony to investigate why, in an age of heightened awareness of the evils of systemic racism, anti-Semitism appears to have been neglected by those who consider themselves progressive and enlightened.
How identity politics failed one particular identity.
Jews Don't Count is a book for people who consider themselves on the right side of history. People fighting the good fight against homophobia, disablism, transphobia and, particularly, racism. People, possibly, like you.
It is the comedian and writer David Baddiel's contention that one type of racism has been left out of this fight. In his unique combination of close reasoning, polemic, personal experience and jokes, Baddiel argues that those who think of themselves as on the right side of history have often ignored the history of anti-Semitism.
He outlines why and how, in a time of intensely heightened awareness of minorities, Jews don't count as a real minority: and why they should.
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: 9780008399474
Number of pages: 144
Weight: 220 g
Dimensions: 204 x 135 x 17 mm
‘Jews Don’t Count is a supreme piece of reasoning and passionate, yet controlled, argument. From his first sentence, the energy, force and conviction of Baddiel’s writing and thinking will transfix you…as readable as an airport thriller…a masterpiece.’STEPHEN FRY ‘I don’t think I have ever been so grateful to anyone for writing a book. Baddiel’s Jews Don’t Count is incisive, urgent, surprisingly funny and short. It’s also a beautiful piece of publishing. It needs to be read’JAY RAYNER ‘Brilliant, furious, uncomfortable, funny. Essential reading.’SIMON MAYO ‘I'm about a quarter of the way into this thus far and it's very well argued and written. It's a book you know the author HAD to write, and those are the best books’JON RONSON ‘I only big up work I really believe is good and this is extra-ordinarily good. And important’JONATHAN ROSS ‘This is brilliant – funny and furious, mostly at the same time’MARINA HYDE ‘A convincing and devastating charge sheet’ Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times ‘It is so gripping – I read it in a single sitting’ Stephen Bush, The Times ‘A fascinating book, I urge you to read it’ Piers Morgan ‘I really think it’s a great book … the real triumph is its tone, its straightforwardness, and its spectacular tact and wit’ Adam Phillips, author of Monogamy ‘this short and powerful book shows, with remarkable humanity and humour, that no contemporary conversation about racism is complete without confronting antisemitism. An essential read – and a compulsory one too, if I had my way.’ Sathnam Sanghera ‘Funny, complex and intellectually satisfying – a really good piece of work’ Frankie Boyle ‘Just so brilliantly argued and written, I was completely swept along’ Hadley Freeman ‘David Baddiel is a brilliant thinker and writer. Even when I disagree with him – especially when I disagree with him – I feel profound gratitude for his intellectual and moral clarity. This is a brave and necessary book.’ Jonathan Safran Foer
This book is going to be a challenging read for everyone of us who consider ourselves to be the good guys. Baddiel explains anti-Semitism in the context of modern progressive attitudes and argues that, while there is... More
This was an eye-opening read for me because it showed me from the outset that there have been gaps in my understanding, notice of and, therefore, compassion for Jewish people, for the whole of my life. I have always... More
David Baddiel tackles some very important issues in this brief read. Is anti0semitism the great unforgotten prejudice? Will cause a lot of debate.
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