The Shiksa Syndrome Book

Do shiksas really have more fun? A Jewish girl is about to find out in Laurie Graff’s wickedly witty novel.

SHIK·SA (shĭk'sə)
n. Yiddish
1. A non-Jewish woman. 2. A quintessential blonde beauty. 3. A Jewish boy’s dream. 4. A Jewish girl’s nightmare.

Manhattan publicist Aimee Albert knows a good spin, but she’s the one who winds up reeling when her gorgeous, goyishe boyfriend breaks up with her–on Christmas! Aimee dusts herself off and decides to seek companionship with a member of her own tribe. There’s just one problem: all the shiksas are snapping them up!
So when the very cute, Jewish, and gainfully employed Josh Hirsch catches Aimee’s eye at a kosher wine tasting and mistakes her for a shiksa, what’s a girl to do? Unfortunately, the charade goes on longer than Aimee planned, and her life becomes more complicated than a Bergman film. But Aimee begins to discover that her identity isn’t as easily traded as a pair of Jimmy Choos, and she must decide if having the man of her dreams is worth the price of giving up so much of who she is.

Publishers Weekly

In the winning latest from chick lit-ster Graff (Looking for Mr. Goodfrog), Manhattan publicist Aimee Albert, who is Jewish and whose first love, Sam, died during 9/11, has just split with her goy boyfriend Peter McKnight. Desperate for a Jewish husband and children reared in the faith, Aimee, relying on an imagined Jewish male penchant for non-Jewish women (shiksas), loses mega poundage on a "Depression Diet," straightens and dyes her dark hair red, pops in green contacts and becomes a Shiksa Barbie. Gentile co-worker Krista Dowd drags the new Aimee to a Jewish mixer, where Krista hooks up with Matt Goldman, a Jewish CPA, and Aimee meets GQ-cute Josh Hirsch, who runs LoveLoaves, a lucrative family business, and who only dates shiksas. For her part, Aimee soon discovers how lies can escalate into self-destruction and self-enlightenment. Graff's prose crackles with winning wit, making her potentially annoying conceit go down like a chocolate-covered macaroon. (Sept.)

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