Limmud Toronto 2016

My recent book, Fields of Exile, is the first novel about anti-Israelism on campus, and the question I am most frequently asked about it is why I chose to write a novel on this difficult topic, rather than a non-fiction book. This is not surprising, given that Fields of Exile contains a considerable amount of intellectual content — so much so that both Phyllis Chesler and Thane Rosenbaum have called Fields of Exile a “novel of ideas.” In this talk, I will discuss some of the reasons why I elected to approach a complex contemporary issue through fiction rather than through nonfiction. In addition, I will reflect on how the activism and research that I did on the topic of anti-Israelism prior to writing this novel both helped my book and created some special challenges for it. I will also comment on the “usefulness” or “uselessness” of books, and whether or not fiction (or art in general) can — or should — play a role in trying to promote social change. Finally, I will relate some of these issues to my new novel, The Dead Man, which will be published in April 2016.