The good:
This book addresses things like anti-Zionism, ways antisemitism manifests, recognizing antisemitism on the political right and left, and the ways in which Jews are simultaneously seen as privileged and marginalized. It tells Jewish readers, among other things, not to be afraid to show their Jewishness, to speak out against antisemitism— even when it is hard or 'disruptive,' and to hold fast to their values.

Author's bias shows:
The book opts for centrism and liberalism, explicitly denouncing progressivism in the process, likening it to Stalinism. The author does not acknowledge the presence of antisemitism in the political 'centre' at all. It treats the left-of-centre as unsalvageably antisemitic, instead of opting to fight to keep antisemitic rhetoric out of it. ( )

This book was amazing. I realized how much time I spend trying to pretend I am not hearing antisemitic rhetoric, how I wish with all my might that someone will change the subject rather than speaking out against what is said. Weiss laid it out for me and also made me realize that ar some point I bought into a lot of the narrative. Her reasoning is rigorous and supported and her writing is well-crafted and persuasive. This is a life-changing book for me. I know I must do better, and I know how to do that. ( )

A clear, concise summary of disturbing recent events. While a well-read citizen would know nearly everything in the book, those who rely exclusively upon Ms. Weiss's current employer for news of our, um, times, will be well served by this primer.

Weiss correctly distinguishes among the three prevalent strains of the anti-Semitism virus: Right, Left, and Islamist, and correctly observes that while white supremacists are the anti-Semites most likely to shoot up a synagogue, they are responsible for only a small fraction of anti-Semitic acts. American Jews, however, "are eager to be the right kind of victims—meaning victims of the bad people on the right, and not the good people on the left."

Weiss is sure handed establishing how anti-Semitism pollutes our culture, our world of ideas, and ultimately our polity. Her final chapter, on combatting anti-Semitism, is unobjectionable but perhaps a bit thin. Yes, we must be brave and yes we should remain true to our better selves. But hard choices about the kinds of political action we take and the political allegiances we maintain are needed. I look forward to learning more about Weiss's views on those choices. ( )

I think this book is super important, but I guess I'm a little puzzled where the boundary lies between being critical of Israel's policies and being an anti-Semite. ( )

Let me preface this saying this is a good, intelligent, book that should be read by many.... and on say LibraryThing I'd give this a 3.5 but on here, having to choose between 3 and 4 stars, I choose 3.

There is a lot of good in this book. Its well written, extremely informative, and straight honest even to the point of alienating a lot of people. I'm curious how the Radical Islam chapter went down in the Muslim community. I have to believe that chapter inflamed a few people.

This is a hard topic, and its handled very well by Bari Weiss. She does a fantastic job of presenting information, both statistical and anecdotal. This is a problem with many faces and many difficult situations and its multi-layered and theres no simple fix or solution to this. Weiss does a good job of covering the history and many possible solutions and ways to make things work.

I do wish there was a subtitle for this book that said basically "For Jews" or at least acknowledged that this book is primarily for Jewish people. Which does seem common sense given the topic; but, I assumed as a Gentile that there would be plenty for me as far as the "fighting" section goes. But that entire section is almost entirely devoted to Jews fighting anti-semitism and not how we as a WHOLE collective can fight against anti-semitism. So as a non-Jewish person, there is far more to get out of this book from the history and historical perspective than there is in the fighting anti-Semitism and thats sad, because thats why I primarily picked up this book, to learn about. ( )