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NOVEMBER 11 @ 11 AM EST ZOOM
November 11, 2022 @ 11:00 am - 3:00 pm
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Author: Letty Cottin Pogrebin – Virtual
Shanda: A Memoir of Shame and Secrecy
Moderator: Deborah Dash Moore
NONFICTION
The word shanda is defined as shame or disgrace in Yiddish. This book, Shanda, tells the story of three generations of complicated, intense 20th-century Jews for whom the desire to fit in and the fear of public humiliation either drove their aspirations or crushed their spirit. In her deeply engaging, astonishingly candid memoir, author and activist Letty Cottin Pogrebin exposes the fiercely guarded lies and intricate coverups woven by dozens of members of her extended family. Beginning with her own long suppressed secret, the story spirals through the hidden lives of her parents and relatives — revealing the truth about their origins, personal traumas, marital misery, abandoned children, religious transgressions, sexual identity, radical politics, and supposedly embarrassing illnesses. While unmasking their charades and disguises, Pogrebin also showcases her family’s remarkable talent for reinvention in a narrative that is, by turns, touching, searing, and surprisingly universal.
“Shanda is a beautiful meditation on the mysteries that families carry, and that, cumulatively, help shape a people.” — Yossi Klein Halevi
Co-founder of Ms. magazine, Letty Cottin Pogrebin is a nationally acclaimed writer, activist, and public speaker. The author of twelve books, her articles and essays have appeared widely. She is a co-founder of the National Women’s Political Caucus and the Ms. Foundation for Women; a past president of the Authors Guild and the recipient of numerous honors and awards.