Arnon Grunberg

Acquaintance

Friendship

Something on disclosures.

In Thursday’s International New York Times Mitchell Cohen reviews Pierre Birnbaum’s book “Léon Blum. Prime Minister, Socialist, Zionist”:

“Pierre Birnbaum, a French political sociologist, has written a useful if repetitive portrait of Blum. Sometimes it is unclear if he is writing for American or French readers. The book, part of Yale’s Jewish Lives series, is most successful describing Blum’s roots in France’s Third Republic. (I should mention here that I have been an acquaintance of Birnbaum and also of the series’s editors.)”

Read the review here.

It’s good to know that Mr. Cohen is an acquaintance of Mr. Birnbaum. An acquaintanceship can survive the description “a useful if repetitive portrait”, but whether a friendship will survive such a remark is doubtful.

discuss on facebook, 1 comment