Gregory Levey

I'm quite sure that Levey exaggerates the lunacy of the UN delegations for humorous purposes, but if even part of his story describes day-to-day functions at the UN, I'm quite scared on behalf of the world. Granted, Levey didn’t attend really high level meetings and wasn’t familiar with Israeli culture, so obviously his descriptions are grass-roots, and for what it is, it's a hoot. He obviously refers to his actual work in very loose terms, so if you're after an in-depth look into the workings of the UN or Israeli government life, then this isn't it. It's more a quasi-Picaresque with some serious stuff thrown in. It is, however, very funny and if you keep in mind that it's written for humor rather than any political commentary, it'll be a very enjoyable read.… (mehr)

Gregory Levey brings humor to the Israel/Palestine issue while presenting various sides of the issue through a number of interviews. As he says at the outset, he (like anyone else would) brings his own biases to the table.
For the me the most interesting point he makes is how much people who don't live in the region care about what happens in Israel and Palestine. I'd recommend it if you want a quick, lighthearted look at different perspectives on the peace process without expecting anything life-changing.… (mehr)

A reasonably funny work, but totally insubstantial. The author goes to various events and has conversations with a variety of people, not uncommonly just friends of his who may or may not have political connections, even talking at one point to a grocer of Palestinian descent, though mostly to Israelis and pro-Israel activists. But as the title implies, this is not a work to be taken seriously. It's humor with a light sprinkling of information thrown in, with surprisingly less pro-Israel bias than I expected. In truth, I didn't expect to find a single thing in this work that I wasn't already familiar with, but I had not heard about the Jewish community on Second Life, and that part alone was surreal and interesting, if not of any real significance.

The author may either be disappointed or pleased that he is now one of the many people involved in the conflict who qualify as "making a living off of it". Perhaps he'll feel a mixture of both, or perhaps he'll feel disappointed until his first royalty check clears and pleased afterwards. But at least his work isn't one of the more vile, disingenuous efforts put out to incite hatred of one side or another. He deserves some credit for that, especially since that seems to be a thriving industry these days.… (mehr)