Main Point Books welcomes editor Ariella Werden-Greenfield and contributor Evan Benn to help launch the new book "This is Your Song Too: Phish and Contemporary Jewish Identity."
This event is at 7:00 pm in our lower level event space. Registration is requested via Eventbrite; walk-ins are welcome as space permits.
About the Book
An exploration of Jewishness among the fan base of the band Phish, and how spirituality, ritual, and identity function in the world of rock and roll, this new essay collection includes an interview with Mike Gordon and a collection of fascinating photographs.
Unsurprising to fans is that a significant percentage of Phishheads are Jewish. At live shows, many attendees, some wearing T-shirts emblazoned with “Phish” written in Hebrew letters, express feeling something special—even distinctly Jewish—during their performances. As this book shows, Phish is one avenue through which many Jews find cultural and spiritual fulfillment outside the confines of traditional and institutional Jewish life. In effect, Phish fandom and the live Phish experience act as a microcosm through which we see American Jewish religious and cultural life manifest in unique and unexpected spaces.
About Phish
Are you kidding me? It's Phish.
About the Presenters
Editor Ariella Werden-Greenfield is Associate Director of the Feinstein Center for American Jewish History and Special Advisor on Antisemitism at Temple University. Her writing on religion, food, and music appears in academic journals and edited volumes, including Religion in Philadelphia (Temple University Press, 2016) and Savoring Gotham: A Food Lover’s Companion to New York City (Oxford University Press, 2015).
Contributor Evan S. Benn is the Senior Director of Special Projects and Communications at The Philadelphia Inquirer. He has previously served as Editor in Chief of the Miami Herald's INDULGE magazine, restaurant critic and food editor of the Herald, and restaurant critic and beer columnist of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. His freelance writing on food and drink has appeared in The New York Times, Esquire, Bon Appetit, Travel & Leisure and others, and he wrote the 2011 book "Brew in the Lou: St. Louis' Beer Culture — Past, Present & Future."