{{short description|American writer}} '''Shalom Auslander''' (born 1970) is an American novelist, memoirist, and essayist. He grew up in a strict Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Monsey, New York, where he describes himself as having been "raised like a veal".<ref>[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15059329 Shalom Auslander, Voicing a Comic 'Lament'], ''Fresh Air'', October 8, 2007. Accessed October 9, 2007.</ref><ref>Auslander, Shalom. [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/arts/01foreskinfirstchap.html "Foreskin's Lament"], ''The New York Times'', September 28, 2007. Accessed October 9, 2007.</ref> His writing style is notable for its existentialist themes, biting satire and black humor. His nonfiction often draws comparisons to David Sedaris, while his fiction has drawn comparisons to Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett, and Groucho Marx.<ref>Reese, Jennifer (2007-10-05), "Shtick Figure". ''Entertainment Weekly'' (957):73</ref><ref>Bob Minzesheimer (2007-11-01), "Round-up: Non-fiction, in brief." ''USA Today''.</ref> His books have been translated into over a dozen languages and are published around the world. thumb|SHALOM AUSLANDER 2024
==Early life and education== Auslander was born and raised in Monsey, and attended Yeshiva of Spring Valley for elementary school, and then high school at the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy in Manhattan.<ref>Brawarsky, Sandee. [http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=18341 "An Orthodox 'cast-off' holds God accountable"], ''The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles'', October 19, 2007. Accessed February 14, 2008. "By the time he was in high school, the Manhattan Talmudic Academy, he was shoplifting the kinds of expensive clothing his classmates wore, smoking dope, and skipping classes to go to museums, bookstores, and porn shops."</ref> His maternal uncles are Rabbi Norman Lamm, a former chancellor of Yeshiva University, and Rabbi Maurice Lamm, the spiritual leader of Beth Jacob in Los Angeles.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lipman |first=Steve |date=2020-06-02 |title=‘Architect of Modern Orthodoxy,’ Norman Lamm Succumbs at 92 |url=https://www.jta.org/2020/06/02/ny/architect-of-modern-orthodoxy-norman-lamm-succumbs-at-92 |access-date=2025-06-29 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref> In ''Foreskin's Lament'', he calls them "Uncle Nathan" and "Uncle Mendel".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Ben |date=2007-10-01 |title=Auslander on life with a vengeful God |url=https://www.jta.org/2007/10/01/culture/auslander-on-life-with-a-vengeful-god |access-date=2025-06-29 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref>
Auslander attended Queens College, City University of New York for four weeks before dropping out. He teaches at the JTS MFA writing program in association with Columbia University.
==Prose work== Auslander's work, which often confronts his Jewish upbringing, has been featured on Public Radio International's ''This American Life'' and in ''The New Yorker''. He has also written for ''Esquire'' magazine, ''GQ'', ''The New York Times'', and many other publications.
'''''Beware of God'''''
Auslander's first book was a collection of short stories, ''Beware of God'' (2006), which was a finalist for the 2003–04 Koret Jewish Book Award for "Young Writer on Jewish Themes".<ref>{{cite web |title=The Koret Foundation :: |url=http://www.koretfoundation.org/news/press_releases/pr_040303.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070524151223/http://www.koretfoundation.org/news/press_releases/pr_040303.html |archivedate=24 May 2007 |accessdate=7 April 2015 |work=koretfoundation.org}}</ref> Writer A. M. Homes called the book "the debut of the freshest voice in Jewish Literature since Philip Roth arrived on the scene." In ''The Guardian'', Nicholas Lezard compared reading its 14 short stories to "drinking fourteen shots of vodka." Christopher Hitchens wrote, "Any enemy of the gods and the godly is a friend of mine—even this freak."
A film adaptation of the story "Somebody Up There Likes You" is in development.
'''''Foreskin's Lament'''''
''Foreskin's Lament'' (2007)<ref>Reese, Jennifer. [https://ew.com/article/2007/10/01/foreskins-lament/ "Book Review: Foreskin's Lament (2007)"], ''Entertainment Weekly''. Accessed October 9, 2007.</ref> is a memoir about Auslander's early life in a strict religious and dysfunctional family and his journey away from it. In it, he writes of his mother, "who was the belle of the misery ball", and his father, who was angry and uncommunicative. As a child, Auslander went through the house and destroyed all the pornography he found. As an adult, he rebelled against his religious upbringing.<ref>{{cite web|last=Foley|first=Dylan|title=10 Minutes with Shalom Auslander|url=https://religionnews.com/2007/10/18/10-minutes-with-shalom-auslander/|work=October 17, 2007|date=18 October 2007 |publisher=Religion News Service|accessdate=January 19, 2012}}</ref> ''Foreskin's Lament'' was named one of the 2007 New York Times Best Books of the Year. ''Entertainment Weekly'' wrote, "Even at his most rebellious, Portnoy-era Roth couldn't hold a candle to Shalom Auslander." A stage adaptation is in development in London.
'''''Hope: A Tragedy'''''
In 2012, Auslander published his first novel, ''Hope: A Tragedy'', in which a homeowner in upstate New York finds an elderly, foul-mouthed Anne Frank hiding in his attic.<ref>{{cite news|last=Maslin|first=Janet|title=Anne Frank, Still Writing In the Attic|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/books/hope-a-tragedy-by-shalom-auslander-review.html?_r=1&ref=books|accessdate=January 19, 2012|newspaper=New York Times|date=January 18, 2012}}</ref> It was a finalist for the 2013 Thurber Prize for American Humor and won the 2013 Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Prize.<ref name="jq2012">[http://jewishquarterly.org/jq-wingate-prize/wingate-prize-2013/ Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Prize 2013] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105201924/http://jewishquarterly.org/jq-wingate-prize/wingate-prize-2013/ |date=November 5, 2012 }}</ref>
In 2020, both American and British critics named ''Hope: A Tragedy'' "the funniest novel of the past decade".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/the-sunday-times-books-of-the-decade-2010-2019-jpcp3rkx0|title = The Sunday Times books of the decade 2010-2019|last1 = Holgate|first1 = Andrew}}</ref><ref name="WSJ">{{Cite news |last=Sacks |first=Sam |date=2020-09-18 |title=Fiction: Family Meal |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/fiction-family-meal-11600439600 |access-date=2020-12-17 |issn=0099-9660}}</ref> Upon retiring in 2022, British literary critic Andrew Holgate named it one of the 23 Best Books of his 23-year career.
'''''Mother for Dinner'''''
Auslander's next novel, ''Mother for Dinner'', tells the story of a family of assimilated Cannibal-Americans tasked with consuming (as is their tradition) their deceased mother's body. It was named a Best Novel of the Year by both ''The Sunday Times'' and ''The Economist''. ''Publishers Weekly'' called it a "riotous dissection of cultural formation" and ''Booklist'' called it a "brilliant satire on tribalism". In the ''Wall Street Journal'', Sam Sacks wrote: "Everyone has different ideas about what's funny, and for me, the gold standard is dark Jewish humor—the more masochistic and taboo, the better. This sort of joking is scarce today—cultural homogenization and the current moral panic over giving offense have turned it into something like samizdat—but at least we have Shalom Auslander."<ref name="WSJ" /> In the UK, the book received unanimous praise, with critic Stuart Kelly calling it a "work of genius".<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 January 2021 |title=Book review: Mother for Dinner, by Shalom Auslander |url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/books/book-review-mother-dinner-shalom-auslander-3115329}}</ref> Its omission from the Booker Longlist prompted an op-ed in ''The Times'' to ask, "But why no ''Mother for Dinner'' by Shalom Auslander, which is funny, in bad taste and a satire of identity politics?"<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Millen |first1=Robbie |title=The Booker Prize longlist: Are these the best books of 2021? |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/booker-prize-longlist-2021-d5bkdpxpv}}</ref>
'''''FEH: A Memoir'''''
In 2024, Auslander published ''FEH: A Memoir'', which recounts his lifelong struggle with shame and self-loathing. ''FEH'' was the winner of the 2026 James Thurber Prize for American Humor <ref>{{Cite web |title=Thurber House — ‣ 2026 Thurber Prize in Writing Winner & Finalists — Literary Center and James Thurber Museum |url=https://www.thurberhouse.org/2026-thurber-prize-in-writing-winner-finalists |access-date=2026-05-11 |website=Thurber House |language=en-US}}</ref> and a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. The Times named it one of their "Best Non-Fiction Books of 2024."
David Sedaris wrote: "Huzzah for one of our most merciless humorists. Auslander's prose isn't just laudable, it's frightening."
In 2022, the Woolf Institute at Cambridge University, England awarded Auslander's essay on the life and work of Franz Kafka, "The Day Kafka Killed His iPhone", the Peter Gilbert Prize.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Institute |first=The Woolf |date=2024-02-10 |title=Improving relations between religion and society |url=https://www.woolf.cam.ac.uk/ |access-date=2024-02-10 |website=The Woolf Institute |language=en}}</ref> The essay discusses Kafka's paradoxical need to be both involved in the world and removed from it to complete his work.
== TV/film == thumb|Shalom Auslander with Philip Seymour Hoffman on the set of ''Happyish'' Auslander wrote and created the Showtime television program ''Happyish'', which shot a pilot with Philip Seymour Hoffman, whom he met while adapting his novel ''Hope: A Tragedy'' for the screen. After Hoffman died in 2014, it appeared that the TV project would be discontinued, but it was recast with Steve Coogan in the lead role and premiered on 5 April 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2015/01/happyish-series-oickup-shameless-renewed-season-6-1201348468/|title="Happyish" Picked Up To Series, "Shameless" Renewed For Season 6 - Deadline|author=Nellie Andreeva|work=Deadline|date=12 January 2015|accessdate=7 April 2015}}</ref>
In 2021, Auslander began a YouTube series, "UNGODLY: Good Lessons from a Bad God",<ref name="youtube.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBiHzj_YLlgo9l1eqrURNNA|title = Ungodly - YouTube|website = YouTube}}</ref> which reexamines the Bible with God (cruel, short-tempered, and vindictive) as the antagonist, "someone we should never be like." The series is in a chapter-and-verse format and Auslander intends to complete the Old and New Testaments.
==Personal life== Auslander is married to the artist and writer Orli Auslander. They have two children.
==Partial list of works==
===Books=== * ''Foreskin's Lament: A Memoir'' * ''Beware of God: Stories'' (2005) * ''Hope: A Tragedy'' (2012) * ''Mother for Dinner: A Novel'' (2020) * ''Feh: A Memoir'' (2024)
===Short stories / magazine articles=== * The Los Angeles Times: This Year, God Should Atone to Us [https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-09-26/in-this-dismal-year-yom-kippur-needs-a-rethink] * The New York Times: They Were Ordinary Germans, We Are Ordinary Americans <ref>{{Cite news |last=Auslander |first=Shalom |date=2026-01-15 |title=Opinion {{!}} They Were Ordinary Germans. We Are Ordinary Americans. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/opinion/ice-shooting-germany-bystanders-history.html |access-date=2026-05-11 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> * The New Yorker: The Playoffs [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/01/15/playoffs] * The New Yorker: Save Us [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/07/02/save-us-2] * The Guardian: Shalom Auslander's Top 10 Comic Tragedies [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/feb/29/shalom-auslander-top-10-comic-tragedies] * The Guardian: Interview [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/feb/19/shalom-auslander-interview-hope-tragedy] * The 10 Types of Jew, Which One Are You? [https://www.thejc.com/lifestyle/features/what-kind-of-a-jew-are-you-1.433347] * Washington Post Op Ed: Don't Compare Trump to Hitler (It Belittles Hitler) [https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/09/13/dont-compare-donald-trump-to-adolf-hitler-it-belittles-hitler/?noredirect=on] * NPR, All Things Considered: The Groucho Letters [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95830821] * Tablet: Consider The Ostrich [https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/auslander-ostrich-media-covid] * The Los Angeles Times, Op-Ed: A Proud Fifth Columnist [https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-auslander-writers-guild-agents-fifth-column-20190510-story.html] * TLS: Book Review, "Hasidism, A New History" [https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/hasidism-shalom-auslander/] * The New York Times: They Were Ordinary Germans. We are Ordinary Americans. [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/opinion/ice-shooting-germany-bystanders-history.html?unlocked_article_code=1.E1A.UK2_.HKRO-9vo88fz&smid=url-share]
===Interviews/readings=== *[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15059329 Fresh Air with Terry Gross], interview from 2007-10-08 *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaMYwKzFlTs Writer's Bloc with Dan Harmon] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF5WK5WSk30 Spoiler Story Festival] with Alex Edelman and Etgar Keret *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZat13zznms Melbourne Jewish Book Festival], "American Jewish Humor with a Twist" *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_WsIZLROTM 92nd Street Y Kafka Festival] with Joshua Cohen, Vivian Gornick and Michael Shannon * Death Camp Blues: from The Moth [http://feeds.themoth.org/~r/themothpodcast/~5/9gmd8_3YS6I/moth-podcast-206-shalom-auslander1.mp3 "Death Camp Blues"] * [http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/281/my-big-break Shalom Auslander reads his true story, "The Blessing Bee." on This American Life] * Pretty Shitty Monkeys: An Interview with Shalom Auslander [https://thekingsnecktie.com/2018/09/10/pretty-shitty-monkeys-a-surprisingly-optimistic-conversation-with-shalom-auslander/] * Jessa Crispin: An Interview with Shalom Auslander [http://www.bookslut.com/features/2007_10_011774.php]
===Television shows=== * ''Happyish'' (2015)
===Video Series=== * ''[https://shalomauslander.substack.com/s/ungodly UnGodly]''
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Portal|Literature}} *{{official website|http://www.shalomauslander.com}} *[http://www.bookslut.com/features/2007_10_011774.php Interview on ''Bookslut''] (October 2007) *[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBiHzj_YLlgo9l1eqrURNNA Ungodly] YouTube channel
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Auslander, Shalom}} Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century American essayists Category:21st-century American Jews Category:21st-century American male writers Category:21st-century American memoirists Category:21st-century American novelists Category:21st-century American screenwriters Category:21st-century American short story writers Category:American male essayists Category:American male novelists Category:American male screenwriters Category:American male short story writers Category:Jewish American essayists Category:Jewish American memoirists Category:American memoirists Category:Jewish American novelists Category:Jewish American screenwriters Category:Jewish American short story writers Category:People from Monsey, New York Category:People from Woodstock, New York Category:Writers from Teaneck, New Jersey