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Some of the most iconic American folk singers of the ’60s and ’70s were Jewish: Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, “Mama Cass” Elliot.
But what if there had been a whole Jewish circle of popular royal relatives, whose descendants had stars of their respective eras?
In her debut novel “The Singer Sisters,” published Tuesday, New Yorker Sarah Seltzer imagines this fantasy and fills it with rock music history, family dramas and a lot of Yiddishkeit.
Singer is an ordinary Jewish surcall, however, the novel’s titular sisters are named Judie and Sylvia Zingerman. It’s the 1960s and they come from a Jewish family circle in Massachusetts, but they aspire to become musicians in Greenwich Village’s burgeoning folk scene. As they locate their position in this heady world (which, in the novel, is populated by real-life heroes like Dylan and fictional singer-songwriters), Judie falls in love with another Jewish singer named Dave Cantor (yes, some other Jewish prank call). , whose call level is Dave Canticle.
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With the help of their recording studio owner father, Judie and Sylvia record an album and star, only to be derailed by the resulting drama in the world of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll they inhabit. Eventually, Judie chooses to leave the industry to start a family with Dave, even as she continues to tour.
Emma has become one of the biggest stars of the classic rock scene of the 1990s in Los Angeles, thanks in part to the recording of some of her mother’s unfinished songs. But their relationship is far from civilized, and a former circle of secret relatives widens the chasm between them. All roads lead to New York, where tragedy (and Jewish charcuterie) brings them together.
We speak with Seltzer, 41, a former editor of New York Jewish Week, Kveller’s spouse and recently editor of the Jewish feminist magazine Lilith, about Jewish rock royalty, the Village scene and how her Jewish spouse, who works at Rolling Stone, is helping get her in. The artistic zone.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Has there ever been a circle of Jewish rock and roll relatives like this (so overtly and deeply Jewish, secular American style) in a mainstream book, movie, or show?
Not that I know of. There was a British novel that looked like maybe a Jewish rock family that I saw that came out at some point, but I never read it partly because I didn’t need to be influenced. But it’s the only one I can think of.
There were a lot of Jews in the folk scene, like Dylan, Paul Simon, Carole King, Cass Elliot, but if I was going to write a family drama, they had to be Jewish, and coincidentally, as I am, I joke. about pastrami.
I just went to give a lecture in my Master of Fine Arts program, which didn’t have a large Jewish audience attendance, however, my Jewish advisor and she said to me, “You know, you have the rhythm of our other people. “
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So you didn’t just come down and say, “Okay, now I have this circle of kin concept. How can I make it Jewish? Did that come naturally to you as you went along?”
From the beginning I knew that they would be Jewish and that’s how the news reached me. I hadn’t planned this part.
What were the inspirations, Jewish or not, for the family and the story?
There are many other inspirations. It was partly like growing up in a city in the 90s. I read a lot of my parents’ magazines, and in the ’90s, I realized that there were a lot of stories about baby boomers and their families, like Jakob. Dylan [Bob’s son]. And then there was also this great Vanity Fair article about the offspring of the ’60s rockers that I found fascinating. And there were articles about Joni Mitchell locating her daughter; It was just in the air.
New York City is very proportionate in the book. It’s kind of a promised land for Judie, and it’s where the characters feel most comfortable in the midst of travel and travel. How Jewish was the first scene around Dylan?I imagined him as a type of WASPy.
Both. Journalist David Browne published an e-book on music in the village in September, which I read. There were many Jews in this scene and also many WASPs. Ramblin’ Jack Elliott Jewish, as did some other wonderful people. And then there was also Dylan’s friend at the time, who looked like an Italian baby in red diapers. So I think there’s a great mix.
As I read the book, I wondered how members of the extended Cantor-Zingerman family—who are very sensitive to the Vietnam War and other issues of their time—would have reacted to October 7 and its aftermath. Hamas has opened wonderful divisions within many multi-generational families, no matter how liberal they may be. Do you think October 7 would put them at odds?
Yes. I think they would argue. It largely depends on the context you are in, the people around you and how they react. So you might see Emma going one way or the other. I saw her leave for Palestine. Or, if she’s around an organization of non-Jewish leftists in upstate New York [where she ends up near the end of the book], if she’s not in town, she might react against it and feel left out or misunderstood because It’s not with his tribe in New York.
The characters also say or do something Jewish: do you have a favorite Jewish moment that you’re glad you wrote the text about?
I made charcuterie something fun and recurring in the book. I think it was a little triyete for my grandmother, who ordered a sandwich platter from PJ Bernstein on the Upper East Side, near her home. For any occasion, it was like having a big sandwich tray. My family regularly prepares Barney Greengrass for our celebrations; It’s not sausage, but it’s the same, right?So it became kind of a little running joke that I inserted.
You’re married to Rolling Stone editor Simon Vozick-Levinson, who is also Jewish. Did you make any contributions to the content of the book?
When you are a teenager and young person, music becomes a component of who you are, how you define yourself, and what you do for fun. The older you get, the harder it is to keep up with the music, keep going to concerts, keep up with your fandom and feel that intensity. So marrying someone who works in the music business meant I still went to all those shows, right up until the end.
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And I find that when I go to a concert (I’m much lazier than him now that we have kids) I stay there and get in an artistic mood. Going to all those exhibitions that I went to that encouraged the book was thanks to [Simon]; He said, “Let’s take a look at getting into this show. ” “There’s a Pete Seeger birthday concert, let’s stop by. “
Without giving too much away, Judie’s arc is an engaging observation about seeking to make artistic paintings later in life, that is, during and after first-time parenthood. And then Emma became famous at a very young age. Do you feel that, as a society, we have moved beyond the purpose of being a success when you are in your early 20s?
This goes back to what we communicated a lot about Lilith. Rabbi Susan Schnur, who was on staff before I painted here and is a legend in the office, calls them “species paintings. “Women have to take a break from their ambitions to paint the paintings of their species, which involves worrying about aging parents or children or caring about the community. And so we’re on a different timeline than shooting into smart fortune in our 20s. So, I think part of the message of the book is that there’s no right time to do anything, and part of what smart fortune should look like is to overcome life’s demanding situations that come up unexpectedly and seek to be a smart user. while looking to find time to be creative and achieve their dreams.
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