Stephen G. Bloom
"Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America"
Tuesday, October 24 / 5 P.M. / FREE
McCune Conference Room / 6020 HSSB
Editorial Reviews
Frank Conroy, author of Stop-Time
Intelligent and absorbing. . . A fine and courageous piece of work.
Publisher's Weekly, July 24, 2000
". . . a model of sociolgical reportage and personal journalism. . . proves
an illuminating meditation on contemporary U.S. culture. . ."
Postville is a selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club and the Quality
Paperback Book Club
Book Description
A conflict between two deeply rooted traditions raises the
specter of anti-Semitism and provokes a struggle over a community's future.
In 1987, a group of Lubavitcher Jews, among the most orthodox and zealous
of Jewish sects, opened a kosher slaughterhouse just outside tiny Postville,
Iowa (pop. 1,432). When it became a worldwide success, Postville found itself
both revived and riven, as the town's initial welcome of the Jews turned to
confusion, dismay, and even disgust. By 1997, the town voted on what was essentially
a referendum: yes or no on whether these Jews should stay. A laboratory of
ethnic strife, Postville is at the leading edge of the new wave of immigration
in the heartland. Its story digs deeply into the questions that haunt America
nationwide: how to build community, how to accommodate diverse but equally
powerful traditions, how small towns can compete with big money. Stephen Bloom's
vibrant, dramatic portrait of Postville's troubles is a haunting metaphor
for America today.
About the Author
Stephen. G. Bloom, an associate professor of journalism
at the University of Iowa, has been a journalist for more than 20 years. He
has worked as a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News,
San Jose Mercury News, and Sacramento Bee. In 1992, he was press secretary
to San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan. His freelance work has appeared in many
publications, including The New York Times Magazine, The Chicago Tribune Magazine,
Family Circle, Money, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Washington Post.
He is a frequent contributor to Salon Magazine.
This event is co-sponsored by Interdisciplinary
Humanities Center Jewish Studies Research Focus Group, Department of Religious
Studies, and UCSB Bookstore.
Courtesy of the UCSB Bookstore, copies of "Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America" will be available for purchase and signing at the event.
