JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE JEWISH

Another collection of little-known and not-so-little-known facts about all sorts of terrific Jews--from the author of The Jewish Connection (1976). The only difference this time is that Goldberg has a particular angle: his naive idea is that anti-Semitism--even the Holocaust--is simply the result of ignorance, so the format here is to present misconceptions and prejudices and then dash them by setting the record straight and by listing exceptions that ""shatter the stereotypes."" So. Most Jews have ""Greek"" noses, not Jewish noses! Chaim Weizmann was once mistaken for Lenin! The Jews didn't kill Christ! ""An eye for an eye"" wasn't meant to be taken literally! Fifteen Jewish officers fought in the Battle of Waterloo! Mark Spitz! Sandy Koufax! The truth about Jewish mothers! Even the material here that isn't trivial to begin with is trivialized by the presentation. Worse yet, Goldberg's ethnocentric, whining tone (""One majority stands out in special need of truth and understanding--the Jew"") is itself the stuff of stereotype, and it will put off anybody except those who would buy a book called Just Because They're Jewish just because they're Jewish.