What happens when the Jewish religion and the sport of basketball collide?
The Skinny: Coaching Ira is the story of Ira Korbman, the reluctant coach of his local Jewish Youth League Basketball team. Loosely based on the author’s own experiences as a United Synagogue Youth (USY) basketball player, the novel combines both basketball and Jewish culture – making for a little controversy and a lot of comedy. Coaching Ira holds nothing back, touching on such sensitive subjects as anti-Semitism, Jewish secularism, interfaith dating and the ideological differences between Conservative and Orthodox Judaism. Shandler paints suburban Langston, a fictional upper-middle class “Anytown USA”, as the backdrop for this story. Kids drive around in expensive cars, try to juggle more extracurricular activities than they can handle and strive to get into the best colleges in the country. The Synopsis: When Ira Korbman was 17 years old, he had a chance to sink two foul shots to win his Jewish Youth League team the state championship. But Ira misses them both, and his life hencefor
