[COLD OPEN] When you write YA fantasy, the natural next question is like, "Okay, what's the romance?"
[MUSIC, INTRO] This is The Book of Life, a show about Jewish kidlit, mostly. I'm Heidi Rabinowitz. Night Owls is a paranormal YA romance adventure about Clara and Molly, two estries who run an art house cinema in The Village. In case you're wondering, estries are Jewish, owl-shifting, bread-eating female vampires. Are you intrigued yet?
This book is my new favorite, and I'm not the only one. This debut novel won gold from the Sydney Taylor Book Award and the National Jewish Book Award. The story is fun and fast paced, it's eerie and emotional, and it's got characters I want to hang out with, even if they would probably be dangerous to know. So I did the next best thing and hung out with the author A.R. Vishny. Get show notes, a transcript and links to more about this book by subscribing to my newsletter at BookOfLifePodcast.substack.com. [END MUSIC]
A.R. Vishny, welcome to The Book of Life.
Well, thank you so much for having me. Heidi.
I'm very pleased to have you here. I loved your book so much! And Night Owls is your debut novel, so mazel tov!
Thank you.
And please tell us briefly what it's about.
Night Owls is a YA contemporary fantasy about two estries, which are bread eating owl shifting women vampires from Jewish folklore, who live in a movie theater in Manhattan that used to be a Yiddish stage. And the older sister Clara has a rule against dating and falling in love that her younger sister Molly just totally ignores. Her girlfriend, Anat, is a poorly kept secret in the neighborhood. But when Anat disappears, they have to team up with their infuriatingly charming box office attendant, Boaz, to find her... facing down ghosts and demons and a monstrous Manhattan underworld in the process.
Awesome. Just that description makes me happy. What was your inspiration for this story?
My inspiration really was the neighborhood in that section of the East Village. When I was in law school, I lived down there. I find that neighborhood really fascinating and enchanting, and I still spend a lot of time down there, even though now I live over in Queens.
Flashing forward a bit to the pandemic, I really missed going down there: my perfect afternoon where I might go get some food at B & H Dairy and go see a movie at the Village East by Angelika, which is the theater that the one you see in Night Owls is based on. So writing this project originally was a way to visit the neighborhood while not being able to do all the things I like down there. And then it became a way also just to explore a lot of the folklore I found interesting, a lot of the tropes I just really love in YA, it just became a way to have a lot of fun writing something super Jewish.
That's great that the pandemic produced something positive. Tell us about estries. Before reading this book, I had never heard of estries. So tell us what they are, and how did you first learn about them?
Estries appear as ordinary women. They function like normal vampires in many ways, they feed on the blood of unsuspecting men, but they can also eat bread and salt, and that heals them. And a lot of the little pieces that we know about estries come from the Sefer Hasidim, which is a medieval text originating from the Jewish community in Germany. I first learned about estries from author Rena Rossner at the Highlights Symposium in 2019. She gave this talk about Jewish monsters and Jewish folklore. And that stuck with me because of one of the features of estries, how when they let their hair down, they can fly, and that there's this element of their sort of monstrous magic tied up in their hair. I have very thick, curly hair, and so that immediately got my attention.
Speaking of hair, in an Instagram Live interview that you did with Bookishly Reads and Zoe Reads, you talked about this hair aspect of estries, and you said that you have a lot of hair based Jewish anxieties, so you could relate to the estries. So can you tell us more about your hair based anxieties?
Oh, of course, I love talking about hair [LAUGHTER] or my Jewish hair anxieties. I have thick, curly hair. I believe, if you're into curly pattern discourse, it's a 3B. For a lot of my childhood, it was the total bane of my existence. I grew up in the early 2000s where the ideal was that, like really flat ironed, perfectly straight hair, which my hair will not do, no matter how much you try to flat iron it. It's stereotypically what people imagine when they talk about like, quote, unquote, Jewish hair. I can even sort of trace, weirdly enough, my own hair journey in accepting my hair and its natural texture and learning how to style it properly, actually does correspond to my own journey, really coming into my own as a Jewish person who writes about Jews and does a lot of creative and at one point academic work on Jewish women. They're very closely linked for me.
All right, thank you. The blog Bookishly Jewish... actually, it's funny, because everything is called "Bookishly." [LAUGHTER] The Instagram Live is Bookishly Reads and there's this blog Bookishly Jewish, so uh...
I'm just impressed by like, how deeply researched, like the stuff that was written about my book. I really appreciate it.
Oh, sure, my pleasure. It's always interesting to see what other people are saying about the authors that I want to talk to. So the blog, Bookishly Jewish, pointed out in their review of Night Owls that quote, accepting the monstrous half of oneself is not necessarily a bad thing, because what society calls monstrous is often just a woman trying to think for herself. So what do you think about that?
I really loved that review because I found it got at what I was trying to do with Night Owls and with estries. I found that estries were a really interesting way to think about the interior lives of Jewish women, their desires, which are often overlooked, generally as women and also as Jewish women; the specific features of how estries function became a really useful vehicle to do that.
The feminist Jewish culture website Hey Alma posted a very excited article about Night Owls, which pointed out that the book shouts out Hey Alma, and that you've described the book as a combo of Twilight and the writing you've done for Hey Alma. So first tell us more about your work with Hey Alma, and then explain what you meant by that comment about the combination with Twilight.
I started writing for Hey Alma in 2019 with an article I wrote about the American Girl dolls, which I love talking about, specifically like a Jewish perspective. I found I really enjoyed doing that, so I continued to write for them as a freelancer. I love writing about depictions of Jews and Jewish women in pop culture and film and TV and bringing, like, a little bit of humor and a little bit of slyness to the articles that I write. I really found Hey Alma helped me develop this writing voice that have since carried into, I think, everything I write. Night Owls, in many ways, is a conventional vampire YA romance like Twilight, but brings with it a lot of those pop culture references, those sort of discussions of Jewishness and Jewish femininity, and that sense of humor.
So you mentioned your love of the American Girl dolls. And many years ago, when the Rebecca Jewish doll...
Yes!
...came out, and the book by Jacqueline Dembar Greene that went with the doll, I interviewed her for the podcast, because this podcast has been going since the dawn of time.
Oh my goodness, I did not know it went that far back.
I started in 2005 so it's been around practically as long as podcasts.
Oh my goodness!
I'll dig that up and put it in the Show Notes so people can check that out. But I wanted to ask you to tell me more about your Jewish perspective on American Girl dolls.
It's funny because it does also tie into my hair anxieties. Like many a child who was born in the 90s, I had an American Girl doll, and my first one was the 2001 Doll of the Year, Lindsey, who was also their first Jewish doll. She was a contemporary girl. Her story, like, she kidnaps a classmate's iguana, this is how the story opens. [LAUGHTER] And like, there is like pet stealing, there are crazy hijinks, there are flying matzah balls. And the story is built around her brother's bar mitzvah and family interpersonal drama that's happening around then. I don't know if I asked for that doll specifically because she was Jewish, but immediately I was taken to that and it really was something that I connected to. It kind of stood in contrast to the very Christmassy nature of the other historical dolls. You couldn't avoid the fact that Kirsten has a flaming wreath headdress for her Christmas ensemble. It's very not subtle with the other dolls. So I do think that was also part of what drew me to Lindsey. There's another podcast, it's not running anymore, but Dolls of Our Lives, which did some fantastic analysis just on the books and the culture around American Girls, that got me back into it. And I bought a Rebecca Rubin doll on eBay... don't feel like they're just for kids! Rebecca's springtime book, traditionally, if you follow American Girl, it's the birthday book. On the surface, it's about Rebecca going with her cousin Max, an aspiring actor. She's gonna go with him to a movie set because it's her birthday. But it's Passover. It's the only middle grade book I've seen do a Passover book that's not about a seder. The whole big drama at one point is how lunch is gonna happen, because the commissary on set is not kosher for Passover, and what are people gonna eat? And it was so specific and so good, yeah, I highly recommend that people check those out, even if you think you're not an American Girl person.
Well, that's fascinating, because I did not know that there was a Jewish American Girl character before Rebecca.
Lindsey. Yeah, she was the OG, she was 2001.
You learn something new every day! So you also mentioned that you have an interest in Jewish representation in pop culture. So I want to delve into that a little bit. Can you maybe give us some examples of Jewish representation that was done very well or was done very badly?
Oh, boy. One of the first depictions of a Jewish woman, very well written, is in Mad Men. Rachel Menken, a love interest of Don's. She's a small role in the grand scheme of the show, but she's also, as it's revealed in the final season, actually, kind of the whole axis on which the rest of the show turns. It's really fascinating. There's a bit of humor to her that's very intelligent. She's presented as the only character that Don Draper recognizes as an intellectual equal. I love her character. And I think for a show that wasn't a Jewish show, Mad Men has some of the best writing of Jewish moments. It's not just that the character exists, but that whatever the Jewish moment is actually matters in the context of the show and what it's trying to say.
Other pieces of Jewish pop culture that I love. I love Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, fun and delightful. Yeah, it's those, like, little details, I think that lend it an authenticity.
Are you comfortable calling out any particularly bad representation?
Oh, boy. I was very disappointed with Nobody Wants This. I feel like the title kind of says it all. I was very underwhelmed by that whole mishegoss: making jokes at the expense of Jewish women or presenting those stereotypes. You know, for me, it doesn't matter how hot Adam Brody is, it can't be a good representation of Jews if the whole humor is relying on the fact that his mother and his sister in law and that everyone else in his life are these awful, shrill, harpies of Jewish women. It makes me so angry, because, you know, you're not going to get another hot rabbi show now that you've got one, and it's not that good.
[LAUGHTER] Right! Have you seen A League of Their Own? The recent show based on the older movie?
I did not see it.
The Jewish character was like the one stereotypical character, she was completely neurotic. But the representation for everybody else was excellent, or at least, as far as I could tell, it seemed excellent. And they delved really deeply into the representation about gender and sexuality and about the Black experience. And then they had this cardboard Jewish character.
It drives me nuts, because I think that's a common theme. The Jewish character is, like, the worst character. Glow, which I also love, about women wrestlers in the 80s...
Oh yeah. I loved that show.
Yeah. I loved it. And it was the same thing. It was like the one Jewish character was presented as this princess, and they tried at the end to shoehorn a little bit of depth in there. But it always kind of rubbed me the wrong way, because it's such a thing. It's not like it's a one off. It's like the Jewish character is always the worst one.
Yeah. Well, it's good that you call it out. It won't change unless people are aware of it.
Oh, thank you. I really believe that. I think sometimes with Jews, if we're like, conditioned to accept crumbs or tokenizing rep or things that are just wrong, you know, it's never gonna get better. I really believe the only way the content we get gets better is if people ask for it and demand it.
Exactly. Well, thank you for doing that.
Thank you.
Let's get back to Night Owls. But still speaking of pop culture, there's a reference to Hey Alma within Night Owls. Are there any other pop culture Easter eggs or afikomans that we should keep an eye out for?
The Mummy features heavily in Night Owls, and part of the original reason I decided that Boaz loves The Mummy is because of Oded Fehr. He was in an earlier version. It doesn't make it onto the final page, but Oded Fehr, who's an Israeli actor who is in the original Mummy trilogy, is an absolute delight, if you look at any of his social media content, especially like what he did during the pandemic. So at the time, I decided that Boaz, whose father is not in the picture for some magical reasons, he would be very enchanted by Oded Fehr, and would wish that he was his father, which is then how The Mummy became his favorite movie of all time. There's references to older versions of The Mummy throughout, and that became really important to the series... or to the show... [FLUSTERED, LAUGHTER] ...that became, became very important to the book! I wish it was a series! Try, just trying to manifest that.
Well actually, you're anticipating one of my questions. So I felt like this story is so action packed that it ought to be a movie or a series. It seems like you're sort of in that same mindset! I was wondering if you have done any fantasy casting.
Oh, 1,000%! [LAUGHTER] Yeah. Not just as a fantasy movie cast, but I realized this works as a musical.
A musical!
Yeah.
That would be amazing.
Oh, thank you. I always felt that Molly, in my head, has always been Micaela Diamond, who was Lucille Frank in the most recent version of Parade on Broadway. Clara, in my head, was always Julie Benko, who was the understudy for Beanie Feldstein and then Lea Michele in Funny Girl in that recent revival. Aunt Gila, in my head, has always been Ninet Tayeb, an Israeli sort of multi hyphenate. She's a singer, an actress, has this really fascinating blend of punk rock and pop about her. Oh, I could just keep going.
Keep going! Go ahead.
Who else is there? Um...
Boaz?
See, Boaz is the one I don't have cast. It's actually very hard, because for him, I'd really want someone who is Jewish and Mizrahi. And there's like, two Mizrahi American actors under the age of 35 and neither of them are right for Boaz, so TBD.
So that's a hard one. How about Anat?
Oh, Anat is 100% Swell Ariel Or, probably most known for The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem.
And one more. How about Ashmadai, the king of the demons?
That's a good one. It's always been this actor, Itay Tiran, who in Israel is their most acclaimed Shakespeare actor. If you want to get a taste of why he's Ashmedai in my head, there's a fantastic movie he did, Demon, that was a Polish and I think Israeli coproduction: contemporary reimagination of The Dybbuk. He is so good at being really creepy. There's no CGI happening there. It's just him.
Amazing. Well, let's manifest this and bring it to fruition.
Thank you. I have so many ideas, and I really hope one day it happens.
I would love to see that. So speaking of theater and film, Yiddish theater and early film both play a big role in the book. So can you tell a little bit about, how was Yiddish theater important to the development of American theater?
Yiddish theater, at its peak, the first decades of the 20th century, was comparable in size to English language theater. Like Broadway today, there was a huge range: crowd pleasing family fair, very experimental work, whatever the latest and greatest from Europe was. So things like Henrik Ibsen was translated first in Yiddish, before it was in English. A professor that I had at U Mass, an undergrad class about comic books, always said that in order to understand comic books, which is this, again, another New York Jewishly informed art form, you had to understand the Yiddish stage. Because that was the pop culture of the authors of comic books. This is what they were consuming, or what their parents were consuming. So similarly, when you look at theater and the development of 20th century Broadway, the development of the American musical, you do have to look at what those creators were consuming, what were their earliest theater experiences, which inevitably leads back to the Yiddish stage. Some of the things that you see in Yiddish theater become mainstays of American musicals, like this idea of reimagining Shakespeare so that it's something contemporary. Like the way that Romeo and Juliet gets reimagined to becoming West Side Story is something that you see in a lot of Yiddish plays, which did that all the time with Shakespeare. One of the most important acting coaches in Hollywood and in the theater with Stella Adler, was the daughter of Jacob Adler, who was one of the major Yiddish theater directors, producers, actors. So the acting styles developed on the stage then came to inform her own training and how she trained Golden Age Hollywood people and Golden Age Broadway.
That's amazing. I didn't realize it had so much influence.
There's a lot. People underestimate just how much.
Beyond the estries there are sheydim, demons, in this story. So tell us a bit more about sheydim, what they are, how they operate.
Sheydim are demons in Judaism. There's a lot of very interesting folklore surrounding them. How they're maybe different from Christianity's conception of a demon, is that they're not necessarily evil. A key difference generally, in how Judaism views a lot of things, is that everything exists under the umbrella of God. So they're not like this inherently evil outside force.
Let's talk about the human Jewish representation in the book. So we've got a mix of Ashkenazi, Mizrahi, Israeli-American. It's unusual to read a book with such diverse Jewish portrayals. So can you talk about that?
For me, that was really important, and something I knew I wanted to do from the get go, because that's what I grew up with. I knew lots of Israelis. I knew, you know, both Ashkenazi and Mizrahi and Sephardic and people who are combinations of those things. Boaz's background specifically came from mine. I'm not Syrian, but my dad's Israeli, my mom's American, and that was really important for me to put on the page, because that was something that I had never really seen in a book. Israeli representation that I read growing up, I could count two books, both of which are about war and conflict, and not vampire romps! And I think in general, it's extremely rare to see any Israeli rep on the page that's not about conflict and a metaphor for peace, and things that are important, it's just not something I feel really equipped to write. And then Clara and Molly, they're both Ashkenazi. Clara is an immigrant from the late 19th century Tsarist Russia. Molly was born in the Lower East Side. Two different generations. I think having that mix and then having that, again, just feel really normal and organic on the page was really the main thing I was trying to achieve with the book.
Okay, well, you achieved that. So...
Thank you.
Well done. This book includes both straight and queer romance, given pretty much equal attention, and these relationships are also cross species, I guess you would say, between humans and estries. So can you talk about the romance aspect of the book?
When you write YA fantasy, the natural next question is like, "Okay, what's the romance?" Especially when you're writing about vampires. I liked getting a chance to explore both of these sisters' romantic lives and how it functions as a way to think about their personal desires and their long interior lives that start with their first lives before they became estries. Yeah, it's also just fun to write. For Clara and Boaz, because it's a flipped dynamic where you have the human boy and the vampire girl, it invited a lot of fun ways to play with the tropes and sort of the typical things we expect from vampire novels. For Molly and Anat, I enjoyed using them as a way to think through some of the history about The Yiddish theater;allusions to The God of Vengeance, which is the Yiddish play that's at the heart of Indecent, a more recent Broadway production, which was, at the time, the first same-sex kiss on a Broadway stage. It was a good way to explore a lot of the history that I found really compelling, while telling a cute romance and getting to have the characters enjoy themselves.
Can you talk a little bit about the challenge of combining accurate history with fantastical world building?
So that's a thing I thought through a lot. I don't want to say something historically that's totally untrue, or to rewrite history. I knew pretty early on that estries, like vampires, they have this sort of mortal quality about them, but I think making them fallible, that they can be injured, that they can be killed, is answering sort of the question that is never asked in the book, but is one that I think, if you're any Jewish writer who writes fantasy, is that: "Okay, well, if this creature exists, then how do all these terrible things that have happened in Jewish history, happen?" For me, I answered that by introducing a lot of fallibility to the characters. You can see that they wouldn't be able to solve the big historical issues and traumas that have plagued the Jewish community.
That's a really interesting answer, because I felt like Night Owls was significant in that antisemitism is not much of a factor in the story. And I love that. It's like a Jewish joy experience. It was very joyful for me to read it. But it's interesting that you're saying that there's this deeper level where you have to deal with the antisemitism before you actually can write it out of the story.
I definitely feel that way. It was important to me that it's a joyful story. You can't totally ignore that the world that we live in has antisemitism. So, yeah, I found, for me, it was a lot of subtext and helped with the world building, but it was very deliberate that it was not on the final page.
That's fascinating. As you researched both the actual history and the folklore elements, you must have learned a lot of interesting things. Can you share some of that with us? Did you learn anything really cool or weird or....
There's a lot of history that I couldn't include in the final version. My favorite was this fascinating moment right around the turn of the century where the Chinese operas in Chinatown in the Lower East Side teamed up with the Yiddish theater companies to run a joint fundraiser for victims of the Kishinev pogroms. It was this night out at the Chinese opera that then included an attempt at kosher Chinese food at Mon Lay Won, which was this big, fancy Chinese restaurant down in Chinatown. The reception was attended by all the biggest Yiddish theater names of the day. And it's this fabulous moment when I came across it. I was totally fascinated, and I'm very surprised that no one's done like a Jewish picture book about it. It's a moment of allyship that's about another group coming to the aid of a Jewish community outside of a Holocaust context. It's not about, you know, someone hiding Jews in a basement, but it is about a community recognizing that there were these common concerns, and I think why the opera community had this relationship with the Yiddish theater was because some of the contacts within the Yiddish theater had advocated against the Chinese Exclusion Act. So there was this wonderful moment of allyship that was very encouraging and kind of got forgotten. I love that, and like I said it's not included in the final version, except that the restaurant, Mon Lay Won, is featured.
You are not a librarian, but you're a member of the Association of Jewish Libraries.
Yes.
Yes, as am I. Because you don't have to be a librarian to be a member, and you've served on committees and been very involved. So what makes AJL worthy of your time?
I think the organization is fantastic. As someone who cares a lot about Jewish books and making sure that good Jewish books make it into readers' hands, I see the work that AJL does as essential. I think people are forever underestimating how important librarians are in just making sure that books find the readers they're meant to find. I also found, for me, personally, getting involved was almost like getting an MFA in Jewish literature. [LAUGHTER] For me, it really was, because honestly, like I was on, for a couple years, on the Sydney Taylor committee, and for those years, you read every single Jewish book that comes out. And I talk to people who've been in MFAs, you know, you do a ton of reading. For two years, I read every single book. And you learn so much about what is good Jewish rep? Where in a book, has it fallen short? What are things that I like? What are things that I don't like? What is there too much of on the market? Where are the gaps? I really felt like I learned so much from doing that reading and also just connecting with Jewish librarians and other people who are AJL members, and care about this stuff. The whole experience and the membership has been super invaluable, and I highly recommend that people who care about this stuff join, regardless of whether you're a librarian or not.
When you were on the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee and you did all of that intensive reading, did it affect your own writing?
People don't appreciate, necessarily, how readers, and specifically Jewish readers, or people who have an expertise, will notice if you've made a mistake. So it's made me really pay attention to detail, because I know, you know, the librarians will notice these things! They'll notice if you made a mistake. So it's something I became very conscious of.
You've actually participated briefly in this podcast before, because when I saw you at the Association of Jewish Libraries conference last summer, I recorded you talking about your favorite "Jewish emotional support book," Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. People can hear that episode, hear you and all of the other people suggesting their emotional support books by looking at the September 2024 episode. But right now, I want to give you the opportunity to recommend any other Jewish books that you think that we should know about.
If you love Night Owls, you'll definitely enjoy Sasha Lamb's newest book, The Forbidden Book. It follows a girl who, the night before her wedding, jumps out of a window and assumes this identity, of this man Isser Jacobs, who turns out to be a real man who people want dead. But there's a dybbuk element, and if you enjoy girls jumping out of windows [LAUGHTER] or history that's imbued with a sense of Jewish magic, you'll love this book.
I also really love Sofia Pasternack's work, specifically Black Bird, Blue Road, about a girl in medieval Khazaria, in this Jewish kingdom that historically may or may not have existed. Her brother is dying of leprosy, so she takes him on this quest to reach the city of Luz, where, in theory, no one can die. It's amazing in that book, how she weaves in Jewish history and folklore and builds it into how the world functions and how they move through space, while still telling a story that is funny and exciting and adventurous and will make you bawl. I can't remember the last time I cried so hard reading a book. Highly recommend that one.
It's Tikkun Olam Time. So what action would you like to call listeners to take to help heal the world?
I would recommend to go onto the Jewish Women's Archive website. Read up a profile on a Jewish woman that you have never heard of. You will find a story that will make you say, "wow, why have I never heard of this person?" Maybe see if there is another book you can read about this person, because it's just so important, and something all of us can do, is be better about the way we remember history and the way we talk about the lives and work of women.
That's a great suggestion. I love that. Is there an interview question that you never get asked, that you would like to answer?
Well, people haven't asked me yet why I call Ashmedai "the prince of demons" in the book and not "the king of demons."
Ah, that's a subtlety I didn't notice. Go ahead.
Why I chose prince: it's because he has to give off a little bit of romantic tension. And if he's a king, that kind of implies that he's a little bit crusty and old for the heroine. But also, demons and the sheydim do not answer to a force that is separate from God. They are not answering Satan. They do not exist outside the world and everything that's been created. So I wanted to signal at the fact that Ashmedai he's ruling the demons, but he's not an absolute authority, and that is why he's a prince.
Very interesting. What are you working on next?
It will likely be a Jewish answer to Beetlejuice. [LAUGHTER] We shall see.
Where can listeners learn more about your work?
ARVishny.com I'm also active on Instagram, and these days, that's the best place to find me for social media. AR underscore Vishny,
And we can read your many articles on Hey Alma as well.
Yes.
Do you write for other outlets too?
My work has previously appeared in The Washington Post and in Teen Vogue about Maus and censorship. Those are also linked on my website.
Here's one more thing I want to ask you. You sometimes work as a television extra?
Yes.
And you were in some crowd scenes in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I love that show! So can you please tell me what was it like to work on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel?
That was the most fun I've ever had in a job, ever. On a whim, I applied because the casting call was asking for Jewish resort guests, and I was like, "yes, the part I was born to play!" I totally forgot about it, and then I get an email being like, "Hey, do you want to do this?" And I was like, "Sure, of course, it's not like I have to study for the bar or anything." [LAUGHTER] And it was so much fun! You get fitted in this beautiful vintage dress. They have a gigantic warehouse of vintage clothing, and one of their wardrobe people measures you, and then comes back magically with these outfits that fit.
On the day of filming it's a lot of sitting and standing and sitting again and doing things over and over again. But actually, that experience informed some of the trippier scenes that happen in the climax of Night Owls. So the first time I did Maisel was for one of the resort scenes: orientation day. Midge and her family listen to the head of the resort welcome people. And the scene happens in a meeting hall, late afternoon, sunlight is streaming in, and there's a big crowd of people. That scene was not filmed in the Catskills. It was filmed on a soundstage in Brooklyn. That light that's coming in, that beautiful, golden sunlight, is lighting. It is not real. That was a full day of filming, and you're on set for most of it, and the light never changed. And you really believe, as you're sitting there, that it's like 4pm. Then, you know, we take a break, and you look at your phone and you can see, no, it's like 10pm.
Oh, wow.
The light hasn't changed, but all this time has passed. It's a very strange experience, and that weirdness, that moment where you realize, like, it feels real, but there's something a little bit off going on here, ended up informing something in Night Owls.
That's so cool. A.R. Vishny, thank you so much for joining me.
And thank you so much for having me, Heidi, I'm really thrilled to chat with you, and so excited to share the book.
Me too.
[MUSIC, DEDICATION] This is Dara Horn, author of One Little Goat: A Passover Catastrophe. I will be joining you soon on The Book of Life podcast, and I would like to dedicate my podcast to my mother, Dr. Susan Horn, who taught me how to make creative seders.
[MUSIC, OUTRO] Say hi to Heidi at 561-206-2473, or bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to my newsletter on Substack to join me in growing Jewish joy and shrinking antisemitic hate. Get show notes, transcripts, Jewish kidlit news, and occasional calls to action right in your inbox. Sign up for the newsletter at BookOfLifePodcast.substack.com. You can also find The Book of Life on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Want to read the books featured on the show? Buy them through bookshop.org/shop/bookoflife to support the podcast and independent bookstores at the same time. You can also help us out by becoming a monthly supporter through Patreon or making a one time donation to our home library, the Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel of Boca Raton, Florida. You'll find links for all of that and more at BookOfLifePodcast.com. Additional support comes from the Association of Jewish Libraries, the leading authority on Judaic librarianship, which also sponsors our sister podcast, Nice Jewish Books, a show about Jewish fiction for adults. Learn more about AJL at JewishLibraries.org. Our background music is provided by the Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band. Thanks for listening and happy reading. [END MUSIC]
[MUSIC, PROMO] When the Buddhist monk Xuanzang returned to China from India, bringing back precious Buddhist texts, he thought his traveling days were over. But then he finds an intriguing scrap with writing that he does not recognize. Finally connecting it with the Jewish community in Kaifeng he is implored by the community to go on another journey – this time even further west through Persia and Israel to find and bring back a teacher for the Kaifeng Jews. He is joined by his disciples, the Magic Monkey and Eight Rules Pigsy. Eventually a Jewish man known as Bear acts as a guide and interpreter as they encounter Jewish sages from the Talmud and Midrash. Join me for a conversation with Joel Bigman about this delightful mix of Chinese and Jewish folklore and wisdom in his book, The Second Journey.
