Jew and Improved

Jew and Improved: How Choosing To Be Chosen Made Me A Better Man is a 2010 non-fiction book by Canadian writer Benjamin Errett.[2] It was first published in June 2010 by Harper Collins and chronicles Errett's conversion to Judaism after becoming engaged to a Jewish woman.[3]

Jew and Improved:
How Choosing To Be Chosen Made Me A Better Man
First edition cover of Canadian release
Author	'Benjamin Errett'
Country	Canada
Subject	Religious sojourn
Genre	non-fiction, memoir[1]
Publisher	HarperCollins
Publication date	June 1, 2010
Media type	Print (hardback and paperback)
Pages	272 pp.
ISBN	9781554684274

Synopsis

The book follows Errett as he decides to convert to Judaism after asking his girlfriend to marry him. During the process Errett deals with the changes to his lifestyle and the surprises that conversion brings.

Reception

The Quill & Quire gave an overall negative review, writing that the book "comes off as merely shmaltzy" and "though tasty, has little sustaining value".[4] In contrast, the Winnipeg Free Press praised the book as "light and likable".[5]

On the CBC radio show The Next Chapter with Shelagh Rogers, Toronto writer Catherine Gildiner calls the book the "Story of goy meets girl" and finds it carefree, witty and lighthearted with many funny one-liners, praising Errett's "turn of phrase" and comparing him to Jonathan Goldstein. On the other hand, Gildiner criticises him for downplaying the issues associated with his experiences and for not clarifying for his readers the reasons behind his conversion.[6]

In an interview, his wife stated that his perspective on Judaism has not affected her work overtly, but since they exchange ideas and work together, even when on individual projects, her husband's ideas may have influenced her sensibilities. In the same interview, his wife revealed that she had read his book 35 times, a fact she considers may have further influenced her ideas. In the same interview, she also stated about her husband that "also, for a new Jew he has old soul Borscht Belt wit, which lends itself very well to comics".[7]

Awards and honours

Jew and Improved received shortlist recognition for the 2011 "Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction".[8]

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References

Goodreads, Jew and Improved, Book review. Retrieved November 23, 2012
"Benjamin Errett is Jew and Improved". Shalom Life. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
"Converting to a better man". The Star. Toronto. April 5, 2010. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
"Review: Jew and Improved". Quill & Quire. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
"Just become a mensch, my son". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
Gildiner, Catherine (May 10, 2010). The Next Chapter with Shelagh Rogers (Episode: Coffin Culture).
Sarah Lightman (August 8, 2014). Graphic Details: Jewish Women's Confessional Comics in Essays and Interviews. McFarland. p. 174. ISBN 978-1-4766-1590-5.
Faculty of Arts, September 1, 2011, Shortlist announced for the 2011 Edna Staebler Award, Wilfrid Laurier University, Headlines (News Releases). Retrieved November 23, 2012

External links

Harper Collins Canada, Jew and Improved. Retrieved November 23, 2012

Recipients of the Edna Staebler Award and shortlist honours
Edna Staebler
1990s Winners	Winning writer, Winning title, (award year), ISBN Susan Mayse, Ginger, (1991), ISBN 9781550170184 – Marie Wadden, Nitassinan, (1992), ISBN 9781550540017 – Liza Potvin, White Lies (for my mother), (1993 co-winner), ISBN 9780920897133 – Elizabeth Hay, The Only Snow in Havana, (1993 co-winner), ISBN 9780920953808 – Linda Johns, Sharing a Robin's Life, (1994), ISBN 9781551090559 – Denise Chong, The Concubine's Children, (1995), ISBN 9780140254273 – George G. Blackburn, The Guns of Normandy, (1996), ISBN 9780771015038 – Anne Mullens, Timely Death, (1997), ISBN 9780394280844 – Charlotte Gray, Mrs. King, (1998), ISBN 9780670866748 – Michael Poole, Romancing Mary Jane, (1999), ISBN 9781550547498
1990s Shortlist nominees	Nominated writer, Nominated title, (nomination year), ISBN Phil Jenkins, Fields of Vision, (1992), ISBN 9780771044014 – Anne Kershaw and Mary Lasovich, Rock-a-bye Baby (1992), ISBN 9780195412680 – Sherrill MacLaren, Invisible Power, (1992), ISBN 9780770425265 – Marlene Webber, Street Kids, (1992), ISBN 9780802067050 – Rosalind MacPhee, Picasso's Woman, (1995), ISBN 9781568361383 – Jack Kuper, After the Smoke Cleared, (1995), ISBN 9780773728325 – Rita Moir, Survival Gear, (1995), ISBN 9780919591813 – Patricia Pitcher, Artists, Craftsmen and Technocrats, (1996), ISBN 9780773728585 – Tom Connors, Stompin' Tom, (1996), ISBN 9780670864874 – Frances Backhouse, Women of the Klondike, (1996), ISBN 9781770500174 – William Aide, Starting from Porcupine, (1997), ISBN 9780778010470 – Phil Jenkins, An Acre of Time (1997), ISBN 9781551990026 – Douglas Chambers, Stony Ground, (1997), ISBN 9780394281544 – Elisabeth Raab, And Peace Never Came, (1998), ISBN 9780889202924 – Lois Sweet, God In The Classroom, (1998), ISBN 9780771083198 – A.C. Lewis, Nahanni Remembered, (1998), ISBN 9781896300184 – Will Ferguson, I Was a Teenage Katima Victim, (1999), ISBN 9781550546521 – James Mahar and Rowena Mahar, Too Many to Mourn (1999), ISBN 9781551092409 – Joni Smith, Charlevoix County, (1999), ISBN 9780494516690
2000s Winners	Winning writer, Winning title, (award year), ISBN Wayson Choy, Paper Shadows, (2000), ISBN 9780312284152 – Taras Grescoe, Sacré Blues, (2001), ISBN 9781551990811 – Tom Allen, Rolling Home, (2002), ISBN 9780670884735 – Alison Watt, The Last Island, (2003), ISBN 9781550172966 – Andrea Curtis, Into the Blue, (2004), ISBN 9780679311355 – Anne Coleman, I'll Tell You a Secret, (2005), ISBN 9780771022784 – Francis Chalifour, After, (2006), ISBN 9780887767050 – Linden MacIntyre, Causeway, (2007), ISBN 9780002007245 – Bruce Serafin, Stardust, (2008), ISBN 9781554200337 – Russell Wangersky, Burning Down the House, (2009), ISBN 9780887623295
2000s Shortlist nominees	Nominated writer, Nominated title, (nomination year), ISBN Beth Powning, Shadow Child, (2000), ISBN 9780786707201 – Ellen Stafford, Always and After, (2000), ISBN 9780670886203 – Kevin Patterson, The Water In Between, (2000), ISBN 9780385498845 – Andrew Steinmetz, Wardlife, ISBN 9781550651218 – Howard Hewer, In For A Penny, In For A Pound, (2001), ISBN 9780385660778 – Mary Pratt, Mary Pratt, (2001), ISBN 9780864923165 – Trevor Herriot, River In A Dry Land, (2001), ISBN 9780773732711 – Nicholas Pashley, Notes on a Beermat, (2002), ISBN 9781554682560 – Gabriel Bauer, Waltzing the Tango, (2002), ISBN 9780199744480 – Ron Corbett, The Last Guide, (2002), ISBN 9781894673051 – Cornelia Johanna Baines, Under Syndenham Skies, (2002), ISBN 9781550416152 – Peter McSherry, Mean Streets, (2003), ISBN 9781550024029 – Adam Killick, Racing the White Silence, (2003), ISBN 9780141003733 – Dawn Rae Downton, Seldom, (2003), ISBN 9781559706650 – Ellen Bielawski, Rogue Diamonds, (2004), ISBN 9780295984193 – Kevin Bazzana, Wondrous Strange, (2004), ISBN 9780195182460 – Ralph Osborne, From Somewhere Else, (2004), ISBN 9781550225501 – Alex M. Hall, Discovering Eden, (2004), ISBN 9781552632215 – Tilda Shalof, A Nurse’s Story, (2005), ISBN 9780771080876 – Geoff Heinricks, A Fool and Forty Acres, (2005), ISBN 9780771040566 – Elizabeth Hudson, Snow Bodies, (2005), ISBN 9781896300740 – Michael Mitchell, The Molly Fire, (2005), ISBN 9781550226768 – Lisa Rochon, Up North, (2006), ISBN 9781552636909 – Rosalind B. Penfield, Dragonslippers, (2006), ISBN 9780802170200 – John Vaillant, The Golden Spruce, (2006), ISBN 9780393328646 – Kim Bolan, Loss of Faith, (2006), ISBN 9780771011306 – Marcello De Cintio, Poets & Pahlevans, (2007), ISBN 9780676977325 – Rachel Lebowitz, Hannus, (2007), ISBN 9781897141113 – Patrick Friesen, Interim Essays & Mediations, (2007), ISBN 9780973972702 – Nathan M. Greenfield, Baptism of Fire, (2008), ISBN 9780002007276 – Chantal Hébert, French Kiss, (2008), ISBN 9780676979077 – Jane Hall, The Red Wall, (2008), ISBN 9781897113684 – Martin Mitchinson, The Darien Gap, (2009), ISBN 9781550174212 – Cathy Ostlere, Lost, (2009), ISBN 9781554700431 – Andrew Westoll, The Riverbones, (2009), ISBN 9780771088759
2010s Winners	Winning writer, Winning title, (award year), ISBN John Leigh Walters, A Very Capable Life, (2010), ISBN 9781897425411 – Helen Waldstein Wilkes, Letters from the Lost, (2011), ISBN 9781897425534 – Joshua Knelman, Hot Art, (2012), ISBN 9781553658917 – Carol Shaben, Into the Abyss, (2013), ISBN 9780307360229
2010s Shortlist nominees	Nominated writer, Nominated title, (nomination year), ISBN Allan Casey, Lakeland, (2010), ISBN 9781553653080 – Else Poulsen, Smiling Bears, (2010), ISBN 9781553653875 – Benjamin Errett, Jew and Improved, (2011), ISBN 9781554684274 – Grant Lawrence, Adventures in Solitude, (2011), ISBN 9781550175141 – Robyn Michele Levy, Most of Me, (2012), ISBN 9781553656326 – Andrew Westoll, The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary, (2012), ISBN 9781554686490

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