Faith for Beginners is now out in paperback.
Click here to order your copy!

Featured in the Washington Post's most-anticipated books preview, and listed as one of the top-ten books to watch by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

"As the Michaelsons endure "Millenium Marathon 2000," a prepackaged trip through the Holy Land in air-conditioned buses, the sadder, grimmer sides of Israel slowly overwhelm both them and Jeremy's new lover. The novel is consistently amusing, particularly when Hamburger offers barbed observations about the banalities of tourist culture."
-- The New York Times


Read Aaron's essay on Historical Fiction in the current issue of Poets and Writers.

Click here to Aaron's essay on the experience of reading poetry in Drunken Boat.




Read Aaron's article on religion envy at Jewcy.com.

Read Aaron's essay on the evil cliches of contemporary Holocaust fiction in the latest issue of Tin House. A preview is available online.




Read Aaron's profile of Irish author Colm Toibin in the April 2007 issue of Out.

Read Aaron's controversial take on separating people by sex in synagogue at Jewcy.com

Come see Aaron at BAM on March 7, 8pm, along with Shalom Auslander, Jennifer Gilmore, and Rachel Kadish, at a panel of emerging Jewish writers moderated by arts editor Alana Newhouse of The Forward. Click here for more info.

Check out Aaron's essay on the joys of watching Fox News coverage of Israel in Guilt & Pleasure magazine.




Read Aaron's article about teaching creative writing to the "Millenial Generation" in Poets and Writers.

Read Aaron's interview with novelist Victoria Redel in small spiral notebook.

Watch for Aaron's essay on "Sholem Asch: Lost and Found" in the Winter issue of Tin House.

Click here to read Aaron's double review of two new books on European Jewry for The Forward

Click here to read a conversation between Aaron and novelist Maxine Swann



Click here to read Aaron's piece on Wizard of Oz conventions for KGBLit.

Click here to read Aaron's interview with novelist Emily Barton on Small Spiral Notebook.

Click here to read Aaron's review of Lost Cosmonaut by Daniel Kalder in the Moscow Times.



Check out a conversation with Aaron and four other YJA's (young Jewish authors) at jewcy.com

Hear a radio interview with Aaron on Eye on Books.

Click here for a Book Club Discussion Guide of Faith for Beginners.

Read an interview with Aaron about FAITH FOR BEGINNERS in Nextbook.

Advance Praise for FAITH FOR BEGINNERS:

"A woman hopes a family trip to Israel will help her reclaim her confused, rebellious son in Hamburger's entertaining, irreverent first novel... Hamburger has an exacting eye for mundane detail and suburban conventions, and in Jeremy he's created the classic green-haired, pierced college student ranting about social injustice. But beneath Jeremy's sarcastic, moralizing banter, there's a convincing critique of Americans' way of being in the world... Hamburger goes further than witty satire, though, and when the plot takes a dark turn he demonstrates that he's capable of taking on global issues, even if his characters aren't." --Publishers Weekly

"With humor and insight, Hamburger explores the cultural tension between the nation of Israel and American Jews... This novel is highly recommended for anyone who is drawn to stories of family affected by the global political context of everyday life."--Booklist

From the Random House catalog:

An acclaimed short story writer has created a miraculous first novel about an American family in Jerusalem on the verge of a breakdown–and an epiphany.

In the summer of 2000, Israel teeters between total war and total peace. Similarly on edge, Helen Michaelson, a respectable suburban housewife from Michigan, has brought her ailing husband and rebellious college-age son, Jeremy, to Israel. She hopes the journey will inspire Jeremy to reconnect with his faith and find meaning in his life . . . or at least get rid of his nose ring. Helen isn't concerned about Jeremy's sexual orientation (after all, her other son is gay as well). It's the matter of the overdose ("just like Liza!" Jeremy said), the green hair, and what looks like a safety pin stuck through his face. After therapy, unconditional love, and tough love . . . why not try Israel?

Yet in seductive and dangerous surroundings, with the rumbling of violence and change in the air, in a part of the world where "there are no modern times," mother and son will become new, old, and surprising versions of themselves.

Funny, erotic, searingly insightful, and profoundly moving, FAITH FOR BEGINNERS is a stunning debut novel from a vibrant new voice in fiction.