The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family

Critics claim that the history of Zionism provided in Chapter 5 is over-simplified. Do you agree with this assessment? If so, what aspects are simplified? What is missing?

The novel’s epigraph is a quotation from Ze’ev Jabotinsky regarding the Jewish Diaspora. What did Jabotinsky mean by it, and is there any validity in his remark?

How is assimilation of foreign peoples, culture, and religion in American culture and society portrayed in the novel? Is full assimilation possible?

In conjunction with question 4, is the assimilation of the vast Jewish Diaspora possible for the state of Israel in creating a singular Jewish identity?

The importance of history and its ramifications on contemporary society is a broad topic in the novel. Based on examples from the novel, is history useable? If so, how and to what extent?

What is metafiction and how is it used in the novel?

American and Jewish stereotypes are used in the novel, but to what extent are they reinforced or broken?

Consider the meaning of fairness in the argument between Judy and Ruben’s father Alter from Chapter 6. Who is right if anyone?