 Finkelstein grew up in Borough Park , then Mill Basin , both in Brooklyn , New York , where he attended James Madison High School . In his memoir , Finkelstein recalls his strong youthful identification with the outrage that his mother , witness to the genocidal atrocities of World War II , felt at the carnage wrought by the United States in Vietnam . One childhood friend recalls his mother 's " emotional investment in left @-@ wing humanitarian causes as bordering on hysteria " . He had " internalized [ her ] indignation " , a trait which he admits rendered him " insufferable " when talking of the Vietnam War , and which imbued him with a " holier @-@ than @-@ thou " attitude at the time which he now regrets . But Finkelstein regards his absorption of his mother 's outlook — the refusal to put aside a sense of moral outrage in order to get on with one 's life — as a virtue . Subsequently , his reading of Noam Chomsky played an important role in tailoring the passion bequeathed to him by his mother to the necessity of maintaining intellectual rigor . 
 Finkelstein grew up in Borough Park , then Mill Basin , both in Brooklyn , New York , where he attended James Madison High School . In his memoir , Finkelstein <a href='uninflect' title='1'><mark>recalls</mark></a> his strong youthful identification with the outrage that his mother , witness to the genocidal atrocities of World War II , felt at the carnage wrought by the United States in Vietnam . One childhood friend <a href='uninflect' title='2'><mark>recalls</mark></a> his mother <a href='null_genetive' title='3'><mark>'s</mark></a>" emotional investment in left @-@ wing humanitarian causes as bordering on hysteria " . He <a href='been_done' title='4'><mark>had</mark></a> " internalized [ her ] indignation " , a trait which he <a href='uninflect' title='5'><mark>admits</mark></a> rendered him " insufferable " when talking of the Vietnam War , and which imbued him with a " holier @-@ than @-@ thou " attitude at the time which he now <a href='uninflect' title='6'><mark>regrets</mark></a> . But Finkelstein <a href='uninflect' title='7'><mark>regards</mark></a> his absorption of his mother <a href='null_genetive' title='8'><mark>'s</mark></a>outlook — the refusal to put aside a sense of moral outrage in order to get on with one <a href='null_genetive' title='9'><mark>'s</mark></a>life — as a virtue . Subsequently , his reading of Noam Chomsky played an important role in tailoring the passion bequeathed to him by his mother to the necessity of maintaining intellectual rigor . 
Finkelstein grew up in Borough Park , then Mill Basin , both in Brooklyn , New York , where he attended James Madison High skool . In his memoir , Finkelstein recall his strong youthful identification with the outrage dat his mother , witness to the genocidal atrocities of World War II , felt at the carnage wrought by the United States in Vietnam . One childhood homie recall his mother  " emotional investment in left @-@ wing humanitarian causes as bordering on hysteria " . He done " internalized [ her ] indignation " , a trait which he admit rendered em " insufferable " when talking of da Vietnam War , and which imbued him with a " holier @-@ den @-@ thou " attitude at tdatime which he now regret . But Finkelstein regard his absorption of his mother  outlook — thdaefusal to put aside a sense of moral outrage in order to get on with one  life — as a virtue . Subsequently , his reading of Noam Chomsky played an important role in tailoring thedassion bequeathed to him by his mother to the necessity of maintaining intellectual rigor .