Episode 35: Sam Sussman

On Bob Dylan and Being his Mother’s Son

Sam Sussman’s Five Books:

1. My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok

2. A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz

3. In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust

4. Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst

5. Boy From the North Country by Sam Sussman

The Five Books is a podcast that celebrates the role of books in Jewish culture. Through author interviews, we delve into Jewish identity and discover each author’s favorite novels. Join us every week for new Jewish book recommendations! Some of our episodes have included conversations with Rabbi Sharon Brous (Senior Rabbi at IKAR, and author of The Amen Effect), Yael Van Der Wouden (author of The Safekeep), and Dara Horn (author of People Love Dead Jews.)

⁠⁠⁠For feedback or author recommendations please email us at ⁠team@fivebookspod.org⁠

The Five Books is a partner organization of Jewish Book Council, a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Jewish literature and supporting authors and readers. In celebration of 100 years of Jewish Book Month, JBC introduces Nu Reads—a bi-monthly subscription delivering the most compelling new Jewish books straight to your door. For more information on Nu Reads, visit NuReads.org. To stay up to date on ways to celebrate Jewish Book Month, visit www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/jewish-book-month-100.

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Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen
Produced by Odelia Rubin
Editorial and website support by Amelia Merrill
Artwork by Elad Lifshitz of the Dov Abramson studio
Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions.

Sam Sussman’s autobiographical novel Boy From North Country begins with the quest to determine whether Bob Dylan is in fact his father, but gives way to the deeper story of his love for his mother in her final days. In many ways it’s a testament to her having accomplished in its truest form what I think mothers all hope for, which is that their love travels forward and in some way inoculates their children against future pain.

In this episode, Sam reflects on his unconventional Jewish upbringing in upstate New York where Judaism lived in literature and in the spiritual teachings passed down by his mother. He shares how My Name Is Asher Lev gave him a vision of a future for himself where art was central and how A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz helped him sustain a relationship with his mother after her death, redefining for him the bond between the living and the dead.

Sam Sussman is originally from the Hudson Valley, and he has lived in Jerusalem, Berlin, and England. He graduated with a B.A from Swarthmore and M.Phil from Oxford, and has taught writing and literature seminars around the world. His writing has been recognized by BAFTA and published in Harper’s Magazine.  Boy from the North Country is his first novel. It debuted as a USA Today bestseller and was picked by our partners at the Jewish Book Council as the next Nu Reads selection, their new bi-monthly subscription series spotlighting remarkable Jewish literature.

Also Mentioned:

- Tales of the Hasidim by Martin Buber

- Existentialism Is a Humanism by Jean-Paul Sartre

Other Episodes Featuring Autofiction and Memoir:

- Nicole Graev Lipson on the Attention, Intention, and Complexity of Mothers

- Bonny Reichert on Food, Fear, and Finding Beauty

- Gila Pfeffer on Finding Meaning and Humor in the Darkest Times