Jews have long been known as the People of the Book, and with the mass production and marketing of popular literature, Jewish fiction has reached an increasingly broad audience. In this three-session lecture/discussion course, we will consider a wide range of fiction by and about Jews, with particular emphasis on American middlebrow literature of the mid-20th century, contemporary fiction, and international Jewish literature. In the first lecture, we’ll work together to answer the basic question: what is ‘Jewish literature?’ and identify some of the many issues modern and post-modern Jewish authors write about. In particular, we’ll talk about the work of Yiddish writers such as I.B. Singer; women writers like Anzia Yezierska, Fannie Hurst, Edna Ferber, and Grace Paley, and contemporary writers, such as Jonathan Franzen, Dara Horn, and Nicole Krauss. In the second session, we’ll expand our universe to explore some 20th century Jewish fiction from outside the United States, including Europe, South Africa, and South America—and even some “interplanetary” Jewish science fiction. The third session will focus on the issues contemporary Israeli authors, such as S.Y. Agnon, Amos Oz, and Etgar Keret, are concerned about.