{"product_id":"returning-a-search-for-home-across-three-centuries-hardcover","title":"Returning: A Search for Home Across Three Centuries - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eNicholas Lemann\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNicholas Lemann, a veteran \u003cem\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/em\u003e correspondent, grew up in New Orleans, the son of German Jews in a world of gilded privilege. Yet in contrast to his parents' generation, which always sought to downplay their religious background, Lemann was intrigued by his roots, thinking he wanted to be like Jack Burden, the ever-curious reporter in Robert Penn Warren's \u003cem\u003eAll the King's Men\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e And like his fictional hero, who gets drawn into a web of Southern political intrigue, Lemann in \u003cem\u003eReturning\u003c\/em\u003e delves deeply into the family story--from their arrival in the 1830s as peddlers from Germany, to their becoming plantation owners and department store owners after the Civil War, to their emergence as aspirants in the aristocratic world of New Orleans, where they could never quite belong.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Seemingly more \u003cem\u003eOur Crowd\u003c\/em\u003e than \u003cem\u003eYentl\u003c\/em\u003e in its depiction of a German-Jewish family where young scions matriculated at Harvard and liveried staff served \"crustless duck sandwiches\" at cocktail parties, \u003cem\u003eReturning\u003c\/em\u003e, with its parade of colorful family characters--from his grandfather's cousin, who participated in a campaign to prevent a Jewish state in the 1940s, to his father, a wealthy business lawyer in a Deep South seigneurial city, who took his kids to temple \u003cem\u003eonly on Thanksgiving\u003c\/em\u003e, to his New Jersey-raised mother, who \"went into a kind of cardiac arrest of the soul\" upon meeting the family--defies easy categorization. Indeed, as the Lemanns climbed the ranks of New Orleans's high society, their struggles became part of a larger metaphorical story of the challenges faced by Jews, even wealthy ones, who are never able to fit in.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Keenly aware of these contradictions, Lemann began chafing both at the South's strict racial hierarchy and at his relatives' eagerness to be accepted in a subtle but distinctly antisemitic environment. \u003cem\u003eReturning\u003c\/em\u003e then follows the narrator as he rejects this cossetted, assimilated society, embraces religion, and chooses, along with his wife, to raise his children in a Jewish world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Searchingly asking what it is about antisemitism that allows it to flourish after two thousand years, Lemann uses his own family saga as a springboard to address some of the most urgent questions of our time. Through its nuanced combination of biography and philosophy wrapped into a family history, \u003cem\u003eReturning\u003c\/em\u003e ultimately becomes one of the most memorable statements about Jewish life in the twenty-first century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 416\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.4 x 9.1 x 6.1 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 24, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51978328899885,"sku":"9781631498411","price":32.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0938\/3185\/6429\/files\/SbBDGxO79F9781631498411.webp?v=1775801672","url":"https:\/\/ishookbooks.com\/products\/returning-a-search-for-home-across-three-centuries-hardcover","provider":"iShook Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}