In Jewish Texas: A Family Memoir

Filled with the requisite memoir ingredients--family history, growing pains, career angst and sex--but devoid of the interpretation needed to provide insight into a time and place, Ely's recollections of growing up Jewish in Dallas in the 1930s and '40s is mostly an exercise in preserving personal memories. A budding advertising executive turned suburban high-school Spanish teacher, Ely has a frustrating habit of bringing up and then quickly dropping potentially interesting topics. Reminiscing about his military service in Korea, for example, he recalls getting drunk with fellow soldiers and initiating ""a little thigh rubbing when everyone was tipsy,"" and then finishes it off with, ""Is there anything more to say about that? No. Nothing. It's something I regret."" The literary equivalent of a scrapbook, In Jewish Texas is most likely to appeal to Dallas residents who remember Ely's large extended family, and to second- and third-generation Jews who grew up far from traditional Jewish centers. It may also resonate with older gay men who, like Ely, were forced for much of their lives to squelch very real desires and feelings. (Sept.)