Ruth Margalit: In the Belly of the Whale, Kartoniert / Broschiert

Blurb

10 portraits of Israelis from all backgrounds, depicting the war-torn landscape of recent Israeli history: complicated, polarized, lively, argumentative, and---increasingly---adrift. "Captures the personal within the political, offering rare insight." --- Unholy podcast, hosted by Yonit Levi and Jonathan Freedland

Renowned journalist Ruth Margalit revisits 10 profiles of Israeli politicians, cultural figures, and iconoclasts spanning a decade of her reporting for The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine to create a powerful mosaic of the clashing forces that have led to Israel's current state.

To live in Israel today, Margalit writes, is to be either a whale or a Jonah---trying to make do in the belly of the whale. The profiles in this collection represent both: outsiders trying to make a life in a system designed against them, and insiders hatching plans and amassing power all while riding the twin waves of populism and jingoism.

Returning to these profiles from her current reality as a writer and mother living in Tel Aviv at a time of war, Margalit reexamines the texts in light of a transformed society and self, adding new updates and insights to journalistic portraits she has created over the course of a dozen years.

Incorporating perspectives of Israelis from all strata of society---Jews, Arabs, activists, artists, politicians, and academics alike---Margalit stitches an enlightening patchwork to help readers better understand the seemingly inscrutable politics of a nation in which so many have a deep and abiding interest.