BOO KS
141
ica l transfo rma ti on a nd eleva ted th e Soviet Uni o n
to
the va ngua rd o f the
wo rl d's peopl es struggling fo r justi ce. Zi o ni sm was therefo re as full y
repu di a ted as the J ewi sh reli gio n; bo th we re a tav isti c vio la ti o ns o f uni–
ve rsa li st idea ls. Exa lting th e deta chment of the free- fl oa ting intell ectua l,
Goodhea rt g rew up suspi c io us o f the clamminess o f o rga ni za ti o ns a nd
in stituti o ns; a ffili a ti o n with a synagogue wo uld have seemed unn a tural.
Yet thi s memo ir is pe rmea ted by a Jewish consc io usness. Proud o f the
ho ld tha t a flu ent Yiddi sh continu es
to
exe rt upo n hi s sensibility, com–
fo rta ble w ith hi s assoc ia ti o ns and friendships with wha t ca n ha rdl y be
te rmed "co- reli gio ni sts," mystifi ed by the preca ri o usness o f ethni c iden–
ti ty, Good hea rt k nows th a t the cho ice o f a voca ti o n like litera ry studi es
wasn't utterly ca pri c io us, give n th e ex treme booki shness of th e J ewish
people. (Even th e ga ngster Meye r La nsky had belo nged
to
the Book-of–
th e- Mo nth C lub. ) Goodhea rt cl a ims th a t othe r J ews recogni ze him by
hi s ph ys iognomy. H e is a lso awa re th a t such ma rks o f identity fa ll fa r
sho rt o f membership in a li ving community.
H e is a lso consc io us of wha t a peculi a r yet rep resenta ti ve figure he is.
Afte r a ll , ca tego ri es like "secul a r Chri sti an " o r "secul a r Buddhi st " ma ke
li ttl e sense. But a secul a r Jew is no t exactl y a nove lty item. Its exempl a rs
have incl uded Goodhea rt's own mentor a t Columbi a (a nd thi s memoi r
gives pe rh a ps the best comp ressed account of the sensiti vity and ele–
ga nce of Lio nel Trilling's p rowess as a teacher), plus we ll ove r a milli on
of t he 5.7 milli o n Amer ica ns w ho identify themse lves
to
po llsters as
J ews. A via bl e secul a r Jewishn ess is in do ubt, howeve r. Freud ques–
ti o ned the futur e o f an illusio n. Yet Goodhea rt has no illusio n a bo ut the
futu re o f a secul a r J ew ish identity: there will be no ne. The Brookl yn of
h is youth ca nn o t be dupli ca ted. Wh a t Pres identi a l ca ndid a te Jimmy
Carte r o nce pra ised as "ethni c pu rity" has thinned o ut, a nd th e ways by
w hi ch Jewishness ca n be exp ressed have now na rrowed. T he Yiddishi sts
a nd the Hebra icists a re now mostl y sta ti sti cs in the actu a ri a l ta bl es; so
are the va ri eti es of radi ca l cosmo po lita ni sm. Eventu a ll y onl y the o bser–
va nt wi ll be left sta nding. Beca use secul arists have so littl e to a ffirm ,
they have little
to
tra nsmit
to
their children. To be sure a "con fess io n "
ca n a lso be something to pro fess . But Goodheart himse lf o ffers no
con–
fessio fidei
in thi s book . On th e contra ry, hi s skepticism , hi s res ista nce
to
gene ra l express io ns o f o rga ni zed life, hi s culti va ti o n o f intell ectua l
inde pendence a ll hint a t th e radi ca l di scontinuity
to
w hi ch thi s subtl e
memoir-thi s examined li fe- so po igna ntl y tes ti fies.
Stephen Whitfield
