In early reviews of The Middlesteins, Attenberg's Jewish upbringing - and the book's Jewish characters - have been consistently explored. Adam Kirsch describes the eponymous family this way:]]>I don't recommend you go all in to a creative-writing career like I did unless you have nothing to lose by doing so. I don't have a family, for example, no future college educations or mortgage to consider. The only child I have to take care of is myself. For the past few years in particular my attitude has been: I'm already broke, what's wrong with being a little more broke? You sort of just get used to it. You watch everyone around you move forward in their lives in traditional ways, and you accept that you will not be on the same path, especially if you're a single person, which I am. You just have to give into it, or give up. It's not for everyone.