Jerry Stahl

This was a deeply funny look at Holocaust memory and the commercialization of the Holocaust. The idea of a package tour of Holocaust sites is deeply weird to me, and I think Stahl as well, but at the same time totally understandable. His descriptions of the folks on the tour with him are very funny and ring true. His encounter with neo-Nazis in Poland is disturbing, as well as the guy in the camp who clearly doesn't believe any of it actually happened. Not a book to read if you are easily offended by humor amidst such a dark subject. People are weird, and Stahl knows it, even about himself. He also gets that the Holocaust was perpetuated by people and some of the same beliefs that motivated them remain in place today. Recommended.… (mer)

Nein, Nein, Nein!: One Man’s Tale of Depression, Psychic Torment, and a Bus Tour of the Holocaust is written by Jerry Stahl.
This ARC (Advance Reading Copy) was sent to me by Akashic Books in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
The title is a bit ‘quirky’ and I nervously approached it. Holocaust Tourism? Depression? Psychic Torment? Bus Tour? What was I getting myself into? Will I offend people if I read it? If I don’t read it?
I am a little familiar with Jerry Stahl. I like irreverence. I like humor - dark humor, self-deprecating humor. I am familiar with depression and humor is always a good anecdote. I am ‘on the fence’ about bus tours. I have the utmost respect for someone who completed a bus tour of Holocaust sites in Germany and Poland.
I hopped aboard this book with no expectations.
Two weeks later and I am pleased that I read Mr. Stahl’s book.
The book jacket and the publisher’s Press Kit give a full synopsis of Nein, Nein, Nein!
“In September 2016, Jerry Stahl was feeling nervous on the eve of a two-week trip across Poland and Germany. But it was not just the stops at Auschwitz, Buchenwald and Dachau that gave him anxiety. It was the fact that he would be traveling with two dozen strangers, by bus. In a tour group. And he was not a tour-group kind of guy.
The decision to visit Holocaust-world did not come easy. Stahl’s lifelong depression at an all-time high, his career and personal life at an all-time low, he had the idea to go on a trip where the despair he was feeling — out-of-control sadness, regret and fear, not just for himself, but for the entire United States — would be appropriate. And where was despair more appropriate than the land of the Six Million?
Seamlessly weaving global and personal history, through the lens of Mr. Stahl’s own bent perspective, Nein, Nein, Nein! stands out as a triumph of strange-o reporting, a tale that takes us from gang polkas to tour-trash to the truly disturbing snack bar at Auschwitz. Strap in for a raw, surreal, and redemptively hilarious trip. Get on the bus.”

I had to take several ‘breaks’ while reading. The subject matter and Jerry Stahl, himself - both were a bit much to absorb in one session. The subject of the Holocaust is so emotional (beyond words) and the thought of a bus tour with fellow passengers (way beyond words). And Jerry, himself, is a bit better in small doses. I like self-deprecating humor, but I kept muttering TMI, TMI (too much information) over and over again.
And I really had to research Holocaust Bus Tours. Is Jerry Stahl pulling my leg or are they a real thing? Look it up!!!! Holocaust Tours are real!!!

I like the set-up of the book. There is an Introduction - a Map (I do love a map) - 27 Chapters - Acknowledgements and an excellent conversation between Jerry Stahl and Ben Stiller (an edited conversation from October 12, 2022).

My personal comments include:
I did like the writing very much.
I was astounded (and embarrassed) that there was such a thing as the bus tours. (“a Nazi Stations of the Cross” as Mr. Stahl noted on p.200).
I liked the conversation between Ben Stiller and Jerry Stahl.
Chapter 27 - Compassion Portal - was my favorite chapter.
This is a very unique book. Emotional. Depressing. Embarrassing at times. Tragic. Humorous.
Unbelievable at times. Sarcastic. Insightful. Historical.
I don’t think I will be taking a bus tour, let alone a Holocaust bus tour anytime soon, if ever.
I don’t even know how to begin to think about the commercial side to these tours. Book Shops?
T-Shirts? Birthday Cards? Cafes? Good-Luck charms? Snack Bars?
I loved Chapter 2 where Jerry Stahl chronicled the purchase of a new suitcase. Hilarious.
I liked the question he raised on p.228 “Is depression a lifestyle?”
The terms “technocluelessness” on p. 46 and “trauma porn” on p. 18 and “Boomer Reference
Alert” on p. 48
Questions: Is there such a thing or a genre as Comedy Noir? Travel Noir?
I gave Nein, Nein, Nein! 4 Stars **** I would definitely recommend this title.… (mer)

Schizophrenic non-fiction book.

Absolutely hilarious stream of consciousness stand-up comedy style describing people and situations happening while he is on a bus tour.

Absolutely depressing: the bus tour is of three concentration camps in Poland and Germany.

Having lived through enough Holocaust survivors and their terribly tragic stories when I was young, it's hard for me to understand why people who are already intimately familiar with the details of Nazi ingenuity for cruelty want to read this or any of those Manicurist of Auschwitz style books.… (mer)