Shmutz

A Novel

De: Felicia Berliner

Narrado por: Jesse Vilinsky

“Hilarious and endearing...Shmutz is a dirty book with a pure heart.” —The New York Times

In this witty, provocative, and “compulsively readable coming-of-age story” (Cosmopolitan), a young Hasidic woman on a quest to get married fears she will never find a groom because of her secret addiction to porn.

Like the other women in her ultra-Orthodox Brooklyn community, Raizl expects to find a husband through an arranged marriage. Unlike the other women, Raizl has a secret.

With a hidden computer to help her complete her college degree, she falls down the slippery slope of online pornography. As Raizl dives deeper into the world of porn at night, her daytime life begins to unravel. Between combative visits with her shrink to complicated arranged dates, Raizl must balance her growing understanding of her sexuality with the expectations of the family she loves.

“Clever, subversive, juicy, and surprising” (Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies), Shmutz explores what it means to be a fully realized sexual and spiritual being caught between the traditional and modern worlds.

I Love Raizl!!

What a charming, funny and original story. Yes a wee bit dirty but in all the right places. I found myself cheering for Raizl throughout the book as she discovered the world outside her community, makes choices and ultimately discovers who she is. Loved loved loved this book and even if the Yiddish wasn’t perfect it definitely enhanced the listening experience!

Reader does not know yiddish pronunciation

It detracts from the book how the reader pronounces the Yiddish. The story is good.

oi vey

Basically enjoyed the story as it related to my growing up years. Did not like the ending, was actually surprised when suddenly the ending credits came on.

Loved it

As someone very familiar with the community, I thought this book captured the culture well and was engrossing and entertaining.

Why was the Yiddish not correct?

I just started this book, and while story is moving along, and interesting, the narrator’s pronunciation of certain Yiddish words is so off/wrong that it detracts from the book. Can anyone explain how this gets past the author and or /editor? ( the words are common words to most people who know Yiddish… tell me I’m not alone?!?)