New book, A JEWISH APPENDIX, out in '25 from @SpuytenDyvil. Biographer of Chrissie Hynde. Published @parisreview, @lareviewofbooks, many others.

Joined April 2010
Writing for @LAReviewofBooks is always a pleasure; doubly so writing for @LAReviewofBooks about one of my favorite living writers (and the opportunity to talk with her at length).
"In a way, 'Sister Europe' is a dinner party recast as a sort of impromptu Debordian dérive, in which the dramatis personae lurch through their cockeyed and sometimes shared psychogeographies." @sobsey on “Sister Europe” by Nell Zink. lareviewofbooks.org/article/…
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TONIGHT! I'm reading from 'A Jewish Appendix' @FlyleafBooks in Chapel Hill. Joining me for post-reading Q&A and convo is Rabbi Hannah Bender of Judea Reform Congregation. Please come! flyleafbooks.com/event/sobse…
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New interview w/ me about 'A Jewish Appendix' by @yonatshimron. "Samuel to Saul: ‘And you shall turn into another man.' The act of writing is an act of not only invention but self-reinvention. Every work of writing recreates you in the act of doing it." religionnews.com/2025/04/11/…
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‘A Jewish Appendix’ is launched! Here I am, yakking at the official launch reading and fête on Sunday. More events are upcoming, stay tuned! Meanwhile, you can buy the book here: bookshop.org/p/books/a-jewis…
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I was lucky to receive such perceptive attention from a reader & writer so gifted.
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Writers dream of such generous and sensitive treatment. Thank you @LenaRoseGeller & @indyweek. My book ‘A Jewish Appendix’ is out now: spuytenduyvil.net/A-Jewish-A…
an extremely thoughtful interview by @LenaRoseGeller on @sobsey's memoir that "defies easy categorization" - on synchronicities, open doors, and the weight of history. really glad to have spent time with this! indyweek.com/culture/in-poet…
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It was a *major* delight to interview (my hero(ine)) Neko Case. We discussed, among other things, her new memoir, rage, forgiveness, Dexter Romweber & so much more. For the Missouri Review: missourireview.com/interview…
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While we're at it, speaking of @LAReviewofBooks essays and Jews, here is me on James Salter, reviewing a vexing new-ish biography/study of Salter by one of his admirers -- or is that enviers? lareviewofbooks.org/article/…
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With Rain Parade's 'Emergency 3rd Rail Power Trip,' one of the greatest psychedelic pop albums ever, recently reissued, I wrote about the Paisley Underground, LA's early-80s music scene that has been surprisingly durable. For @LAReviewofBooks: lareviewofbooks.org/article/…
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"The Paisley Underground may have been populated by the children of punk, but they rebelled against the rebels who begat them." @sobsey revisits the early-1980s Los Angeles indie pop scene. lareviewofbooks.org/article/…
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"What began for me as nothing like a roots trip had now become one, intensely, painfully, as I visited place after place from which my roots had been ripped out." @sobsey reflects on "A Real Pain" and his own excavation of his Jewish roots. lareviewofbooks.org/article/…
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My search for roots goes deeper in my book 'A Jewish Appendix,' out in one month from @SpuytenDyvil. Preorder it! bookshop.org/p/books/a-jewis…
"A few years ago, like the characters in 'A Real Pain,' I went to the Old Country to see where my Jewish ancestors had come from." @sobsey on "A Real Pain" and his own relationship to his Jewish roots. lareviewofbooks.org/article/…
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