Nobel Prize-winner Singer's 10th collection of short stories demonstrates "the same vigor that he has shown throughout his long career" (New York Times) and reaffirms his place as an extremely popular and enduring author.
A quarter of a century after Isaac Bashevis Singer was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature it is time to take stock of his achievement. Penetrating studies of his fictional and autobiographical works by leading scholars in the field reveal that for all the acclaim he has received on the basis of the English versions of his works, no adequate evaluation of Bashevis's significance can be made without careful examination of the original Yiddish texts. Critical readings assess inter alia his themes and motifs, the impact of Kabbalah on his work, reflections of society in his original Polish homeland as well as his place within the context of contemporary Jewish American letters and the canon of modern Yiddish and Hebrew writing.
This book explores the similar attitudes and methods behind modern society's treatment of animals and the way humans have often treated each other, most notably during the Holocaust. The book's epigraph and title are from "The Letter Writer," a story by the Yiddish writer and Nobel Laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer: "In relation to them, all people are Nazis; for the animals it is an eternal Treblinka." The first part of the book (Chapter 1-2) describes the emergence of human beings as the master species and their domination over the rest of the inhabitants of the earth. The second part (Chapters 3-5) examines the industrialization of slaughter (of both animals and humans) that took place in modern times. The last part of the book (Chapters 6-8) profiles Jewish and German animal advocates on both sides of the Holocaust, including Isaac Bashevis Singer himself. The Foreword is by Lucy Rosen Kaplan, former attorney for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and daughter of Holocaust survivors. Her foreword, the Preface and Afterword, excerpts from the book, chapter synopses, and an international list of supporters can be found on the book's website at: www.powerfulbook.com
A Finalist for the 2016 National Jewish Book Award Forty-two stories from America’s greatest Yiddish newspaper, in English for the first time. The Forward, founded in 1897, is the most renowned Yiddish newspaper in the world. It welcomed generations of immigrants to the United States, brought them news of Europe and the Middle East, and provided them with sundry comforts such as comic strips and noodle kugel recipes. It also published some of the most acclaimed Yiddish fiction writers of all time: Nobel Prize laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer on justice slyly being served when the governor of Lublin comes to town; celebrated Forward editor Abraham Cahan on how place and luck can change character; and Roshelle Weprinsky, setting her story in Florida, on the rupture between European parents and American children. Cahan described the newspaper as a “living novel,” with good reason. Taken together, these stories reveal the human side of the challenges that faced Jews throughout this time, including immigration, modernization, poverty, assimilation, the two world wars, and changing forms of Jewish identity. These concerns were taken up by a diverse group of writers, from novelists Sholem Asch and Chaim Grade to short-story writers like Lyala Kaufman and Miriam Karpilove. Ezra Glinter has combed through the archives to find the best stories published during the newspaper’s 120-year history, digging up such varied works as wartime novellas, avant-garde fiction, and satirical sketches about immigrant life in New York. Glinter’s introductions to the thematic sections and short biographies of the contributors provide insight into the concerns of not only the writers but also their avid readers. The collection has been rendered into English by today’s best Yiddish translators, who capture the sound of the authors and the subtleties of nuance and context.
Wonderful for browsing, and invaluable for finding specific information, Literature Lovers Book of Lists is a compendium of useful and sometimes whimsical information for anyone who loves books and loves to read, at any age or reading level. It is organized into nine sections and provides nearly 200 lists relating to genres, authors, characters and settings, awards, literary terms with their definitions and much more. There are even lists of books of prose and poetry available on audiocassettes. If it has to do with literature, this book has the answers. What book has had the longest run on The New York Times best-seller list? Who is the only four-time winner of the Pulitizer Prize for drama? What is the complete list of Shakespeare's plays and poems? Who are some of the most notable African American authors? What are the three main variations of the sonnet? What famous writers belonged to The Bloomsbury Group? Literature Lovers Book of Lists is both exciting and informative at the same time.
The stories in this new collection from Tom Noyes show us everyday characters weighing the evidence of their circumstances and seeking ways to understand more fully the mysteries that define their lives. The beauty of each story comes from the reckless hope of these characters, their sometimes blind faith in the possibilities of human connection. "Stories that follow truly human characters as they deal with the common problems of life, such as the death of a father and the relationship with his son, a boy struggling with illiteracy, the suicide of a loved one- all things that everyday people may deal with, but all written intriguingly to glue readers to the page. 'Spooky Action at a Distance' is deftly written and highly recommended."--Midwest Book Review "Humor, surprise, and eminently engaging narrators." NewPages.com "His command of craft allows him to unfold characters in a way that moves past mere cleverness and down into emotional tectonics of faith, affection, loyalty, and grief." Image Magazine
While a frequently used term, Jewish Theatre has become a contested concept that defies precise definition. Is it theatre by Jews? For Jews? About Jews? Though there are no easy answers for these questions, "Jewish Theatre: A Global View," contributes greatly to the conversation by offering an impressive collection of original essays written by an international cadre of noted scholars from Europe, the United States, and Israel. The essays discuss historical and current texts and performance practices, covering a wide gamut of genres and traditions.
Ever since the end of the Cuban crisis, cultural studies have gained significant status in American and Western universities. In India, however, the cultural studies programs were somehow interlinked with interdisciplinary studies in English and vernacular literatures. Dr. Pradnyashailee Sawai decided to write a monograph on two major Jewish novels, The Victim by Saul Bellow and Shosha by Isaac Bashevis Singer. Interestingly, these two prominent Jewish writers demonstrate two very different perspectives on Jewish life in America and generally in Europe after the Holocaust. While Bellow is extremely sensitive to the nuances of everyday life in USA, Singer delves deep into the traces of a bygone era.
Narrative Faith engages with the dynamics of doubt and faith to consider how literary works with complex structures explore different moral visions. The study describes a literary petite histoire that problematizes faith in two ways—both in the themes presented in the story, and the strategies used to tell that story—leading readers to doubt the narrators and their narratives. Starting with Dostoevsky’s Demons (1872), a literary work that has captivated and confounded critics and readers for well over a century, the study examines Albert Camus’s The Plague (1947) and Isaac Bashevis Singer’s The Penitent (1973/83), works by twentieth-century authors who similarly intensify questions of faith through narrators that generate doubt. The two postwar novelists share parallel preoccupations with Dostoevsky’s art and similar personal philosophies, while their works constitute two literary responses to the cataclysm of the Second World War—extending questions of faith into the current era. The book’s last section looks beyond narrative inquiry to consider themes of confession and revision that appear in all three novels and open onto horizons beyond faith and doubt—to hope.
A drug researcher develops a Methusaleh serum - a new drug that reverses aging in human cells. While it is being sought by all from crime bosses to the US President, two police must keep the serum and formula safe.