The Jewish Theater's Summer '17 Special Event: Debate between Tuvia Tenenbom & Peter Beinart, with actress Suzanne Toren's presentation of The Lies They Tell at the Triad, on the Upper Wast Side, Manhattan
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Ever wondered why America has moved from Obamaland to Trumpland? If so, acquaint yourself with The Lies They Tell and find the answers to all your questions!
Presentations of The Lies They Tell in the USA are from February of 2017 through July of 2018, in Germany (under the German title Allein unter Amerikanern) from November of 2016 until May of 2017, in Israel (titled Shkarim Shekulam Mesaprim in Hebrew) in September and October of 2016. Project initiated and commissioned by Suhrkamp Verlag in Berlin.
Please note: American presentations of Hello, Refugees! will start in the USA in early 2018.
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Sample reviews:
"Tenenbom (Catch the Jew!) employs his not-so-subtle sarcasm to expose the hypocrisy, contradictions, and delusions of average Americans. Following his assessment of Europeans in his previous books, he now endeavors to meet as many people as possible and portray the character [of America] and its people. He begins his journey in June 2015, the day of the Charleston, S.C., church shooting, and ends after the San Bernardino, Calif., shooting in December 2015. He encounters propaganda and denial, and exposes political corruption in Chicago, gun culture, megachurches, anti-Semitism, polarizing opinions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, vanishing Native American culture, proud rednecks intimidating African-Americans and Muslims, and climate-change deniers denigrating intellectuals. He reveals the hypocrisy of a nation where international aid organizations are well funded and $30 million is raised for a Catholic shrine in Wisconsin, yet devastated neighborhoods in Detroit and Chicago get nothing. His outlook may be bleak, but it's hard not to share his incredulity at the levels of laughable self-delusion. For instance, a guide at the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit disavows Ford's anti-Semitism, saying, Here we talk only about positive stuff, not about problems. Brutal, irreverent, and cutting, Tenenbom's riveting book aims to disrupt American complacency." Publishers Weekly (STAR Review)
"The Lies They Tell ranks Tenenbom among the best social anthropologists, like Comte Alexis de Tocqueville and Mark Twain. Tenenbom, too, analyzes America's living standards, democracy, and social contract. This polymath has an interviewing style of disarming exuberance and bonhomie that keeps the reader turning pages to get to the next encounter." American Thinker
"Savage, disturbing, comical ... Tenenbom has again written a book that is unputdownable." The Jerusalem Post
"Laughing (and sighing) all the way to the last page … Tuvia uses humor surgically, precisely, in order to lance pretentions and hypocrisy." Huffington Post
"While most people were writing Trump off, author Tuvia Tenenbom was (unknowingly) writing book about how he’d win." MEDIAite
"Fantastic ... Riveting ... It’s hard not to be a fan of Tenenbom’s audacity, zeal and energy." Algemeiner
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The launch of The Lies They Tell in Hebrew took place on September 7, 2016 at the renowned Israeli cultural center of Tzavta in Tel Aviv.
The launch of The Lies They Tell in German took place at the venerated Volksbühne theater in Berlin, Germany on November 7, 2016.
The official launch of The Lies They Tell in the U.S., presented by Abe Foxman, took place on February 8, 2017 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in NYC.
For sample events, check HERE
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LIES is on top of all Israel's major Best Seller lists, is a Spiegel Best Seller in Germany, and is the winner of the HONEST JOURNALISM AWARD.
WHO are the real Americans, the people who make up America?
In THE LIES THEY TELL Tuvia travels through America to find out.
He visits megachurches looking for the holy spirit in America and drives to Indian reservations in search of ancient spirituality. He goes to black ghettos and listens to gang members explain the logic of killing fellow blacks, and he meets Jews who dedicate day and night in hatred of their brethren. He dines with wealthy whites who profess a love of poor blacks and wanders into the Senate, where the elected Brave reside. He flirts with Arab virgins who show him the sweet things of life and schmoozes with robbers who teach him the true meaning of love. He finagles his way into a prison where skinheads pray, and he spends his free time with shiny shotguns and glitzy pistols, just shooting. He experiments with drugs on American streets and ponders the deeper meaning of life with rednecks. He sits with monks who throw obscenities at him, and with the homeless who put their trust in him. He mingles with American soldiers who explain to him how to invade foreign countries, and he joins intellectual Americans who teach him the nature of mother earth, the goodness of man, and the sadism of the Israeli.
Welcome to the real America, a place you call home but don’t yet know.
Sample reviews from the Israeli media:
"The Lies They Tell exposes the real America, the one where racism and anti-Semitism lurk just beneath the surface ... Not to worry, Tenenbom knows how to serve his dishes in an easy, palatable manner, which won't allow you to put the book down until it's finished." Israel Hayom
"Special and unique." Channel 1 TV
"An excellent book!" Channel 2 TV
"An excellent, wonderful book!" Channel 20 TV
"Sharp in its observations, pointedly direct ... will make you laugh out loud at the same time that it paints for you America's saddest stories." Makor Rishon
Sample reviews from the German & Austrian media:
"A great, sharp book with deep insight, never sugarcoated, into the reality of a country torn apart. Skillfully, Tenenbom interweaves the dialogues into the text and the result is an entertaining and authentic book. Detailed and shocking, this is the best of Tenenbom's books." Deutschlandradio
“A New Yorker travels through Trumpland … gives a voice to people of all social classes, from the homeless to the oil tycoons; all faiths and minorities … his description of America's ghettos and homeless colonies is impressive…” Spiegel Online
"After reading this book, it is no surprise that Donald Trump has won the election." Stuttgarter Zeitung
"Simultaneously entertaining and shocking." Die Welt
"Packed with Jewish humor ... Reading this book is a delight ... Tenenbom is honest, free of political correctness and he doesn't shy away from recounting embarrassing experiences." Titel-Kulturmagazin
"Tenenbom is not interested in what is on the surface but in what is underneath it, and he digs ever deeper. In what at first seems like harmless chats, he uncovers an America that you won't find in the news: the shadowy side of the American Dream. Tenenbom does not judge people who share with him the darker corners of their hearts, but he quotes them mercilessly." Mitteldeutsche Zeitung
"Entertaining and frightening." Fantasia 637e
"Not only is this adventurous trip told entertainingly, but it is also instructive." Nürnberger Zeitung
"Incredibly funny." Hamburger Abendblatt
"Extremely entertaining." ORF
Watch: Celebrating America at the Volksbühne, at the after-party
Watch (in Hebrew):
American Presidential Debate Explained on the Morning Show
The most exciting Presidential Debate on Walla News
For more details, please contact us at TheJTNY@aol.com
For info re our extended program "Redefining Theater Through Literature" please click HERE
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On stage and in print early 2017
