House of Windows: Portraits from a Jerusalem Neighborhood

by Adina Hoffman

Book Overview

A brilliant and moving evocation of the rhythms of life (and the darker shadows below it) in a working-class quarter of the world's most fascinating and divided city. In the tradition of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0767910192
• ISBN13: 9780767910194
• Release Date: March 2002
• Publisher: Broadway Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

I loved every word!

What a beautiful, intimate, touching book...humorous and sometimes lonely, sad and deep. I almost couldn't believe I could not look out of my window and see Ms. Hoffmann's neighbors in the garden, or go to the grocer in search of olive oil just before sunset on a Friday. And beautifully published too, with little photographs beginning each section. It will stay by my bed to read again.

Real Life in Jerusalem

One of the many things I hate are books about foreigners who come to Jerusalem and through exploring the city find themselves. "The Book of Windows" is most definitely not one of those horrid books. Yes, Ms. Hoffman is a newcomer to the city, but the lovely book she's written is not one of neurotic American soul-searching but a minutely crafted portrait of a couple of streets she lives in that just happen to be in Jerusalem. Of course, as a Jerusalem resident I recognize the stories she tells as possible only in Jerusalem and nowhere else in the world. But Ms. Hoffman doesn't try to make any of the characters or events she so evocatively describes stand for anything except for themselves - there are no cheap attempts to turn the everyday occurrences of a tiny neighborhood and its residents into either "The Story of Jerusalem" or "The Story of Adina Hoffman". Instead, Ms. Hoffman has given us a series of small events which constitute the daily drama of living in Jerusalem: meeting the neighbors, food shopping, planting a garden. There are no earth-shattering revelations here, but the quiet, steady rhythm of real life which is far more satisfying and enjoyable.

Sensitive Essays of Life in Jerusalem

"House of Windows" is a marvelous book which I have recommended to everyone I know who has ever started life over in a new place - or who has visited or lived in Israel, where these essays take place. Hoffman's every word is important and forms a fabric rather like a tapestry. In an appealing personal and affectionate way, Hoffman shows us her own feelings of vulnerability and humility in relations with her neighbors. Her intelligence and sensitive observations and conclusions are admirable - and quite enjoyably readable.

Acute Eyes and Ears in a Jerusalem Neighborhood

I loved this book. It made me want to move right into AH's neigbhorhood, so I too could get to know the wonderfully moving characters that inhabit this book. However, I wouldn't take it all in with her acute eyes and ears, so I'll just wait expectantly for her next book.

A Different View of a Familiar City

This is a fascinating view of a neighborhood very different from what Americans have come to expect in pictures of Israel. Adina Hoffman writes about her mostly Moroccan neighbors with subtlety, perceptiveness and even humor. They live behind walls in a sort of village, a section of the city most visitors don't see, where life is rich and full of vigor on the one hand, and frustrating and sometimes even dangerous on the other. Although the writer is a film critic, her essays aren't about movies, but her eye is as sharp as a film maker's and I felt like I saw "Musrara" very clearly. This is a very satisfying collection by a sensitive and attentive writer.