[alert variation=”alert-info”]Publisher: The Jewish Publication Society
Formats: Paperback
Purchase: Powell’s | Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | iBooks[/alert]
The large, bold, red lettering of the title reads HATEMAIL. No further description is needed as the four postcards that lay across the cover speak volumes. At first, this reviewer had mixed feelings about liking this book. On one hand, the artwork is strikingly beautiful and each postcard tells a story, and in that story shows a time of widespread anti-Semitism, to the point it appears people were socially okay with this mentality and enough so to pen it onto postcards for the entire world to see. However, the book poignantly reminds readers that anti-Semitism hasn’t been absolved. It is still a very viral issue seen in forums, texts, social media, and even from the mouths of politicians.
“Just as the poisonous evil spider / Falls over your husband, / You drain it of its last bit of / Spirit and life, you empty out the moneybag.”
This book includes an engaging history and backstory on postcards and their use worldwide, featuring page after page of colorful artwork riddled with fear, hate, and often bodily threats to the lives of Jews. Each postcard provides readers with the history and meaning of the artwork as well as in depth reading from the countries of origin. This is definitely a sorrowing read, but one that surely shouldn’t be looked over as a fine addiction to any personal library.
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