The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski

In keeping with the celebration of Purim, we celebrate the coming of spring and the deliverance of the Jewish people from the Persian Empire by reading The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski. Our March 2011 selection was picked by Jeff Kaplan, and it received a rating of 7.8.

"World War II has begun. A boy is sent to live in a village while his parents go into hiding from the Nazis. A woman who takes care of him, dies, leaving the boy to fend for himself. He is soon taken in by various individuals including a miller who gouges out his plowboy's eyes, and a man who sells birds. He walks to a village occupied by German soldiers. The local partisans turn him over to the Nazis. A soldier allows him to escape. The boy moves to another village, where he sees trains with Jews and Gypsies heading to concentration camps. He decides that fair-haired, blue-eyed people are God's favorites."


For more information on The Painted Bird and its author Jerzy Kosinski click here.
To Purchase your copy of The Painted Bird click here.