Books, lms, and other new releases of note
BY SABINA WEX
written songs for his local shul. The film fol- lows Kinarthy as his muscles progressively atrophy, forcing him to think about his death and his legacy.
attack and spent three years in French pri- son awaiting trial before the charges were dropped—and then, several years later, long after Diab had returned to Canada, revived. Diab was convicted in absentia by a French court in 2023, but the Lebanese-Canadian sociologist has adamantly denied any invol- vement, saying he was in Lebanon at the time of the attack. Supporters ranging from Carleton University to the Green Party of Ca- nada have argued Diab was wrongfully con- victed and urged the federal government to deny any French extradition requests. Dra- wing on fresh reporting and exclusive inter- views, investigative journalists Dana Ballout and Alex Atack reconstruct and try to shed light on the decades-long case.
HOLIDAY ROM COMS
candles for her bubbe. At a dive bar along the way, Tory meets a handsome Jewish radiolo- gist who is on the same candle quest as she is. Tory eventually transforms the dive bar into a wildly successful Hanukkah-themed bar—all while falling in love with the hand- some radiologist and convincing him not to move back to Chicago from Florida. We can’t quite make sense of all this either, but we’re nonetheless excited that, like our Christmas-celebrating neighbours and friends, we finally have our own supply of shmaltzy, nonsensical holiday flicks to call our own.
BOOKS: FICTION
Leah’s Perfect Gift W Network December 8
Lazy scriptwriters seem to think that Jews sit around yearning to celebrate Christmas. In Leah’s Perfect Gift , Hallmark takes a more nuanced look at this non-problem. The Christmas-loving titular heroine’s dreams fi- nally come true when her gentile boyfriend, Graham, invites her to his Connecticut Christmas with his family. But Leah quickly discovers that she doesn’t fit in with her boyfriend’s family and his traditions—and must re-examine who she is, as a Jew and a Christmas lover. Despite these strange stakes, Hallmark seems to have finally got- ten the memo that eggnog and a few sto- cking stuffers won’t cure Jewish malaise.
PODCASTS
Hanukkah on the Rocks W Network December 13
The Anatomy of Exile Zeeva Bukai (Delphinium Books) January 24
The Copernic Affair Canadaland January 22
To recap the official synopsis: Tory, a Jewish corporate lawyer finds herself unemployed right before the holiday season. She uses her new-found spare time to run around Chicago on a mission to find the last box of Hanukkah
Israeli-American writer Zeeva Bukai has been publishing short stories for a number of years. In her debut novel, she explores the complicated and fraught psychology of
In 1980, someone bombed a Paris synago- gue. Carleton University professor Hassan Diab was accused of masterminding the
THECJN.CA 61
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator