Our blog features essays, book reviews, coverage of FTB titles, and noteworthy news of American Jewish experience by our publisher.
Responses to June Blog Post
Posted on July 10, 2022
We received many responses to the June blog post which is enclosed for convenience below. Were have included six that have been edited for length; as is the case of the June blogger, all of these blog posts are also anonymous: “Of course this white man is frustrated: for the first time he’s being asked […]
“Certain aspects of the state of publishing” from a guest blogger
Posted on June 2, 2022
We received this letter from an author who wishes to remain anonymous: “Dear Fig Tree Books, I am writing to express my lament about certain aspects of the state of publishing in the hope that you may find it informative and relevant. I ask to remain anonymous for obvious reasons when you read this note. […]
War Literature
Posted on May 4, 2022
Wars have been the source some of the greatest literature of the last hundred years. Here are a few examples: WWI: All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, and A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway. Spanish Civil War: For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway. WWII: The Naked and the […]
Jewish Book Groups on Facebook
Posted on April 4, 2022
Avid readers of Jewish literature should check out some interesting Facebook Groups. They provide a forum for readers, authors, and publishers to share information about new as well as classic books, and occasionally offer contests in which members can win free books. While not large (some Facebook groups have more than 100,000 members), these groups […]
Learn More About Abigail Pogrebin
Posted on March 2, 2022
Abigail Pogrebin is the author of My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew, with a Foreword by A.J. Jacobs that we published in 2017. If you haven’t yet had a chance to read his book, you can get a hard copy for less than $15, or an e-book for just $2.99 by clicking on […]
Learn More About Thane Rosenbaum
Posted on February 1, 2022
Thane Rosenbaum is the author of Saving Free Speech … from Itself with a Foreword by Bret Stephens that we published in 2020. If you haven’t yet had a chance to read his book, you can get an Audio copy for Free with an Audible trial, or an E-book for just $2.99. Thane has an […]
Writing something about dialogue between Eve and Adam
Posted on January 3, 2022
Bill Robbins, whose recent essay The Walls was published in November 2021 issue of Fig Tree Lit has raised an intriguing question on a line in Genesis, which he proposes that any of us provide some words that we believe would fit within a conversation between Adam and Eve. Bill writes, “Here’s a proposal for […]
George Washington’s Promise
Posted on November 30, 2021
When I decided to create a niche publishing company that combined my interests in Jewish literature with American civilization, I wanted a name that blended these two pursuits. So I traveled back more than two centuries, to August 21, 1790, and a letter from President George Washington. Although the experience of Jews as a group […]
Does Quality Control Still Exist?
Posted on November 5, 2021
Have you ever noticed that both parts of the term Quality Control (QC) seem to have gone downhill in the last few years? I’ve discussed this with my business and social friends and the consensus is that the problem is rampant and getting worse. Mistakes that used to be rare in the book world are […]
Three Fig Tree Book authors answer the questions that they are most frequently asked
Posted on October 1, 2021
Abigail Pogrebin, author of My Jewish Year:18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew — The question I get asked most about this book is: What was your favorite holiday of them all? It is, in a way, a funny question to be asked about a calendar tradition that has endured for so many generations because it’s not as […]