At the turn of the 20th century, as Jewish immigrants navigated the challenges of assimilation in America, they often faced derogatory caricatures in popular media. In Smoothing the Jew, Jeffrey A. Marx examines how Jewish artists sought to counter these demeaning portrayals, focusing on the first Jewish comic strip published in English: Harry Hershfield’s Abie the Agent.

Through Abie the Agent, Hershfield crafted a Jewish protagonist who both reassured nativists of Jews’ ability to assimilate and encouraged immigrants to adopt American customs without forsaking their Jewish identity. Marx's analysis reveals how this comic strip served as a medium for negotiating cultural identity during a period of intense social change.

Published by Rutgers University Press in June 2024, this 208-page volume includes 45 black-and-white and 3 color illustrations, offering readers a visual and scholarly exploration of early 20th-century Jewish American culture, comics history, and the dynamics of cultural representation in American media.