Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Life

Jennifer 8. Lee Auditions for the Jews

Jennifer 8. Lee, the New York Times reporter famous for having a number for a name, is promoting her new book, “The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food.” Given the Jewish predilection for a certain East Asian cuisine, Lee decided that she wanted to hit the Jewish book fair circuit.

But first she had to pass muster.

Lee relates on her blog:

So I recently went to Los Angeles for a two-minute audition held by the Jewish Book Council, which coordinates the Jewish Book Network of some 100 Jewish book fairs and events around the country.

It is a combination of speed dating and the gong show or “JDate and a camel auction“, as Rachel Donadio wrote in The New York Times last year. You have two minutes (and they will stand up and pull you off if you exceed that) to charm them. They get a book with your picture and bio in it. (It really is like JDate! One woman even asked me if I were single)

Funny story: I met Jennifer 8. Lee once. She actually came to a birthday party of mine. She must have been introduced to me simply as “Jennifer,” because it was only later that I learned — to my great delight — that the legendary Jennifer 8. Lee was at my party. I don’t recall whether, in our brief interaction, we discussed Sino-Judaic subjects — an area that has long been of great interest to me.

Hat tip: Gawker

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.