Michael Lavigne, winner of the 2007 Sami Rohr Choice Award for emerging Jewish writers for his first novel, “Not Me,” will speak about his new novel, “The Wanting,” on Sunday, May 5, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The free event is cosponsored by Congregation M’Kor Hayim.
“The Wanting” takes an unexpected approach to the conflict in the Middle East, says Rabbi Helen Cohn of M’kor Hayim. “With occasional humor and a touch of the surreal, the book deals with yearning for home and spiritual fulfillment. It tenderly reveals the human side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” says Cohn. As Lavigne told J Weekly, “This is not a political book, even though readers may feel that way. It’s much more a personal story about suffering and conflict in general, and how ideology can crush the human spirit. It’s personal relationships that matter” (March 14, 2013).
Lavigne has lived in the former Soviet Union and in Israel, locations portrayed in “The Wanting.” He currently lives in San Francisco.
