The Netanyahus cover art

The Netanyahus

An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family

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The Netanyahus

By: Joshua Cohen
Narrated by: Joshua Cohen, David Duchovny, Ethan Herschenfeld
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About this listen

2022 Pulitzer Prize winner for Fiction and named one of the notable books of 2021 by The New York Times

Corbin College, not quite upstate New York, winter 1959-1960: Ruben Blum, a Jewish historian—but not an historian of the Jews—is co-opted onto a hiring committee to review the application of an exiled Israeli scholar specializing in the Spanish Inquisition. When Benzion Netanyahu shows up for an interview, family unexpectedly in tow, Blum plays the reluctant host to guests who proceed to lay waste to his American complacencies. Mixing fiction with nonfiction, the campus novel with the lecture, The Netanyahus is a wildly inventive, genre-bending comedy of blending, identity, and politics that finds Joshua Cohen at the height of his powers. The New York Times described it as “absorbing, delightful, hilarious, breathtaking and the best and most relevant novel I’ve read in what feels like forever.”

Read by the author with David Duchovny and Ethan Herschenfeld lending their vocal talents to the audiobook.

©2021 Joshua Cohen (P)2021 Pushkin Industries Biographical Fiction Genre Fiction Jewish Heritage Literature & Fiction Fiction Biography Witty Funny Comedy

Critic Reviews

"Absorbing, delightful, hilarious, breathtaking and the best and most relevant novel I’ve read in what feels like forever." (Taffy Brodesser-Akner, The New York Times Book Review)

“No one writing in English today is more gifted than Joshua Cohen. Every page of The Netanyahus—an historical account of a man left out of history, a wickedly funny fable of the return of the repressed—crackles with Cohen’s high style and joyride intelligence.” (Nicole Krauss)

“The Netanyahus is constructed with a brilliant comic grace that moves from the sly to the exuberant. Some scenes are funny beyond belief. But even when moments in the book are sharp or melancholy, they keep an undertone of witty and ironic observation. The vision in this book is deeply original, making clear what a superb writer Joshua Cohen is.” (Colm Tóibín)
All stars
Most relevant  
I chose this book for my book club and am very glad I did - because it is actually fun to read, not dreary, or depressing or foul.

Funny, clever and enjoyable to read.

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Riffing on a true story, Cohen has written gorgeous blend of fiction and nonfiction in this domestic sitcom plus campus novel. More than that: genre-bending so it’s a clever sly look at identity and history. He’s a terrific writer- some of the scenes are so funny dinner scenes or babysitting night, you’re gasping for breath!!
Hugely satisfying. A great listen.

Brilliant, clever, hilarious

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Thoroughly enjoyed this, invested in the characters and fascinated by the scenes illustrated in my mind, laugh out loud funny in places.

things I never knew

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What a Marvellous audio production of this thoroughly absorbing book. I learnt a lot and remembered more and much was put in a new context and brought to light. Bravo to all.

Fabulous book

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Excellent, unforgettable characters
Insightful, tender rendering

Didn’t want it to end

Loved the sound production

Excellent

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Hard to see why it has been so successful.
Came highly recommended but I can’t see why.

Laborious

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