Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Books

Former Forward Hand Max Gross Schlubs It Up for All of New York to See

Former Forward hand and “From Schlub to Stud” author Max Gross is flaunting his schlubby ways on WCBS for all of New York to see.

Now, some might be surprised to tune into WCBS and see a schlubby young man with a wild red Jewfro talking up a book with a subtitle like “How to Embrace Your Inner Mensch and Conquer the Big City.” But, as Max notes in his television interview, we are living in a very schlubby era — Seth Rogen, Jack Black, etc. — so it’s not altogether surprising that the mainstream media is taking note.

Still, I would argue that “From Schlub to Stud” has the potential to further raise the profile of this funny Yiddish word. Indeed, judging by the results of a Google search for the word “schlub,” Max may very well be schlubdom’s foremost living exponent.

Awhile back, I blogged about the New York Post article that would turn out to be the genesis moment of Max’s schlubby project.

Full disclosure: I am mentioned briefly in Max’s schlubby book.

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.