Ben Frank’s latest travel book is a guide for the Jewish traveler to Russia (including Siberia), Tahiti, Vietnam, Burma-Myanmar, India, Morocco (and Algeria, albeit briefly), Cuba, and Israel. Though the final destination on that list has been dealt with better elsewhere, the other destinations are all handled with knowledge and enthusiasm. A veteran journalist, Frank is obviously an experienced traveler and a good researcher who is adept at finding Jewish destinations in far-flung locales, as well as colorful characters in those places. He always seems to locate a good place to worship and good spots to eat, and he’s done his best to make things as current and useful as possible.
Like a curious tourist, Frank’s prose tends to wander off a bit and it also circles back on the same information at times. This is not a book you’ll remember for the writing. It can, however, be a valuable resource for the Jewish traveler or even just someone who wants to know a bit about some of the unlikely spots where Jewish communities are doing their best to survive. Bibliography, index, photographs.
Nonfiction
The Scattered Tribe: Traveling the Diaspora from Cuba to India to Tahiti & Beyond
- Review
By
– February 28, 2012
David Cohen is a senior editor at Politico. He has been in the journalism business since 1985 and wrote the book Rugged and Enduring: The Eagles, The Browns and 5 Years of Football. He resides in Rockville, MD.; his wife, Deborah Bodin Cohen, writes Jewish children’s books.
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