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Kafka and Chicago taught him to love literature, Rodney Dangerfield taught him how to live it

JL;DR SUMMARY Jason Diamond, a journalist and author, brings his wit and cultural insights into his debut novel, "Kaplan's Plot." A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish IdentityChicagoYiddish CultureIntergenerational TraumaImmigrant ExperienceFamily LegacyJason DiamondNovel WritingKaplan's Plot

Places mentioned

New York, United States
"New Yorkers have been eating at S&P Lunch in the Flatiron, the old Eisenberg Sandwich Shop reborn at 174 Fifth Avenue, since 1929."
Chicago, Illinois, United States
"The book moves between present-day Chicago and the turn of the last century."
Brooklyn, New York, United States
"Born in Skokie and long based in Brooklyn, Diamond, 46, is known for pop-culture journalism and social-media posts that are actually funny."
Florida, United States
"When my first novel, The Unexpected Salami, came out in 1998, my mother practically put up billboards in Florida."
Odessa, Odeshchyna, Ukraine
"The book moves between a grandson digging through family graves and the mobster rise of his Odessa-born grandfather, Yitz, on Maxwell Street."
Russian Federation
"His mothers side descends from Chicago Jews who arrived after the turn-of-the-century pogroms in Russia"
Ukraine
"His mothers side descends from Chicago Jews who arrived after the turn-of-the-century pogroms in Russia; his fathers side landed in Brighton Beach after World War II."
Brighton Beach, New York, United States
"his fathers side landed in Brighton Beach after World War II."
Skokie, Illinois, United States
"Born in Skokie and long based in Brooklyn, Diamond, 46, is known for pop-culture journalism and social-media posts that are actually funny."

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Cairo Item ID 61116
Cairo Source ID 35
Retrieved 2025-09-10 05:30:56 UTC
Curated 2025-09-10 08:31:02 UTC