Queering the Text: Biblical, Medieval, and Modern Jewish Stories (White Crane Wisdom) - Softcover

Andrew Ramer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1590211839 ISBN 13: 9781590211830

Publisher: White Crane Books, 2010

Synopsis

Andrew Ramer's new book, Queering the Text: Biblical, Medieval, and Modern Jewish Stories , grapples with traditional midrashim, plays with homoerotic love poems from medieval Spain , and envisions alternate versions of the present. Inspired by the pioneering work of Jewish feminists, using the same narrative tools as the rabbis of old, Ramer has crafted stories that anchor LGBT lives in the three thousand year old history of the Jewish people. ''The universe is made up of stories, not atoms,'' wrote poet Muriel Ruckeyser. The stories in this book will transport you to a new universe the one we are striving to create, right here and now.

About this title

About the Author:

Andrew Ramer is a poet, novelist, midrashist, and body worker. He writes a regular column on spiritual practice for White Crane Journal and has published six book, the best known of whiich is Two Flutes Playing (Lethe Press 2005). He can be found online at andrewramer.com.

Andrew writes about himself: You will find in my work a range of voices, some my own and some received, a term I prefer to 'channeled.' My styles vary. I write very long novels and very very short stories. My published work includes books on angels and pieces in gay erotic anthologies. Years ago I decided that I would write a book in every genre. Cookbook and murder mystery lie somewhere in my future. And twenty-three unpublished books live in ream boxes in a cabinet in my study.

Review:

Imagine traditional Jewish texts or the three thousand-year history of the Jewish people superimposed with stories from contemporary life. Ramer takes classic texts like the story of Ruth and Naomi, David and Jonathan, and improvises, elaborates, or moves the story into a present day context. Or he'll take a quote from Esther ''Thereupon Esther summoned Hatbach, one of the eunuchs whom the king had appointed to serve her'' and expounds upon that by imagining himself as Esther talking with the eunuch late at night.

''Nights when everyone was asleep, we would sit up talking like two sisters, sipping spiced wine and telling stories....the stories I liked best, about the men he met in the market, their homes, their gardens, their beds, those hungry lovers of a single afternoon...''

There are satirical flourishes that put one in mind of Jonathan Swift.... Ramer's [work] infused as it is with a queer imprimatur, is a delightful, even surprising read, perfect for those sporadic moods when you want to queer the text. --Thom Nickels, for Lambda Literary Foundation

Co-facilitator for years of a Queer Torah Study at Congregation Sha ar Zahav, in San Francisco, and author of numerous books, including Angel Answers and Revelations for a New Millennium, as well as a regular columnist for the gay men's journal White Crane, Andrew Ramer presents contemporary midrashim, or interpretative tales, on texts from the Old Testament, the ''Golden Age'' of Spain, and other strands of Jewish tradition.

While the sources in Queering the Text are Jewish, the narratives will appeal to anyone familiar with the Bible and other stories. Each entry begins with a quote from the Bible or source, followed by the narrative. Addressing homosexuality in the Bible and the religious aspects of homosexuality in Judaism, as well as providing gay interpretations of the Old Testament (among other sources), Ramer intends to show a new reading, with a queer-seeking eye, of the texts to bring out what he asserts is already there.

While the title indicates a Jewish slant, this is not always easy to find, which makes the book appropriate for a wider range of audience. Moreover, the interpretations are not always glaringly homosexual, which provides opportunity for discussion that might appeal to those who are not necessarily homosexual-friendly. The prose brings gay Jews, and others in the texts, to life, portraying vivid and complex characters.

Seekers of specifically or blatantly gay materials might be disappointed, but the tasteful nature of this book lends itself well to reading with others who might not be as approving of such a topic otherwise. Queering the Text is not for light reading, but rather for serious thought, and knowledge of the source will help in understanding the narrative provided. --Sara Rofofsky Marcus for the GLBT Roundtable of the American Library Association

About this edition

• Publisher: White Crane Books
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1590211839
• ISBN 13: 9781590211830
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 278