Debut Memoir Out Now

Becoming Ordinary
by Michael Fox

What is a Jew? A Jew is someone who argues with God whether he believes in Him or not.

The war was over long ago, but the Holocaust still lived in his family. It was the subtext of his life, the trauma that held him captive. His father the poet’s song about his birth haunted him from early on. He was named Menachem, consolation . . .

Above the peaks low clouds unfurl
Somber, gray, they spread
Like faces from my far-off land
Their call rings out unsaid:
Bring forth new life, they clamor –
To replace six million dead.

How could he move on? Yet he knew he had to.

“Michael ‘Menachem’ Fox has been a dynamic force in the Yiddish Theater as a playwright, songwriter, and performer. His story, as told in this memoir, is a triumph of the spirit.”
—Zalmen Mlotek, Artistic Director, National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene

“Lyrically and poignantly written, Becoming Ordinary is no ordinary coming-of-age story. The author breaks the shackles of the trauma that was his legacy after the Holocaust.”
—Prof. Miriam Hoffman, Journalist, Author, Playwright