Author Archives: James Goldberg

Halakha, Aggadah and Jesus

Posted on May 4, 2011 by James Goldberg

If I had time for another hobby, it would be following the Supreme Court the way a sports junkie follows sports. For most people, sports is about finding a team and cheering for it. For a true junkie, though, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Literary Views of Scripture, Thoughts on Language | 4 Comments

On Layered Time, plus Thoughts on a Certain Musical

Posted on April 6, 2011 by James Goldberg

On April 6th I was interested in General Conference to hear stories about the beginnings of the Church welfare program. I knew the program was important, but I didn’t realize how important until Bishop Burton shared the Heber J. Grant … Continue reading →

Posted in International Scene, On-stage, Storytelling and Community | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Long Live the Revolution!

Posted on March 2, 2011 by James Goldberg

On Monday, my wife asked a class of BYU students how many of them had heard a Mormon say “I hate Mormons” in a group of Mormons. Every single student raised his or her hand. Now, some of us have … Continue reading →

Posted in Storytelling and Community | Tagged , , | 17 Comments

Mormon LitCrit: On Envying Jewish Lit

Posted on February 2, 2011 by James Goldberg

Two weeks ago, my wife and I received a complimentary copy the Winter 2011 issue of Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies because we have an article about Joann Sfar’s Klezmer published there. About a week before that, as … Continue reading →

Posted in Mormon LitCrit | Tagged | 36 Comments

Storytelling & Community: Of Grisham and Ghalib

Posted on January 15, 2011 by James Goldberg

I spent last weekend at the MLA Convention in L.A. While the convention itself was great, my favorite part was staying with my “aunt” Pawan (actually my mom’s cousin and not quite two years older than me) and getting to … Continue reading →

Posted in In Verse, Mormon LitCrit | 1 Comment

Storytelling & Community: The Same Sociality…

Posted on December 15, 2010 by James Goldberg

On fast Sunday, my business plan was preached over the pulpit. OK, it wasn’t technically preached. More just shared. And it’s not so much a business plan as a running joke. But it was still a surprise to hear the … Continue reading →

Posted in Mormon LitCrit, Storytelling and Community | 20 Comments

Storytelling & Community: Baptism Stories

Posted on November 16, 2010 by James Goldberg

I enjoyed Kathleen’s June post on geneology miracle stories as a genre of Mormon storytelling. I think it’s valuable to reflect on the types of stories which matter to us orally as we look for meaning in the stories writers … Continue reading →

Posted in Storytelling and Community | 11 Comments

YA Corner: Sixteen–It’s a Magical Age

Posted on September 14, 2010 by James Goldberg

Back in January, I wrote a post wondering whether the primary song genre was home to the greatest Mormon art. The best primary songs are beautifully crafted and resonate powerfully with the target audience (young children) and often with older … Continue reading →

Posted in YA corner | 2 Comments

SF&F Corner: A rip off of a rip off is my friend

Posted on August 14, 2010 by James Goldberg

At some point, we all have to come to grips with the fact that Pride & Prejudice & Zombies sold 100 million copies–and we didn’t write it. Such is the lot of the creative writer in the era of the … Continue reading →

Posted in SF&F corner | 6 Comments

Mormon LitCrit: Building the Kingdom with Writing

Posted on July 15, 2010 by James Goldberg

Two weeks before beginning work on an MFA in Creative Writing at BYU, Anna Lewis turned in her two weeks’ notice to the eating disorder clinic where she worked. One of the girls there asked her, “Do you really believe … Continue reading →

Posted in Mormon LitCrit | 22 Comments