Customer Reviews

Comrades and Chicken Ranchers: The Story of a California Jewish Community (Cornell Paperbacks)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a marvelous oral history of the Jewish community in Petaluma, CA. It was a joy to read. I cannot recommend it too highly.

There is no narrative history in this book. Before I read it I thought I might feel that there was something missing because of the lack of narrative history. I was amazed by how rich and interesting the history is in the telling by the people who lived it -- it shows the humanity of history, the feel of lives and all that goes with them.

I found this book while researching Alby Kass, a Klezmer singer who recently performed in Petaluma. I was fascinated and couldn't put it down. I had no idea of the divide in the community over religion. I thought the synogogue was ALWAYS the synogogue. My one complaint is that the names were changed. I KNOW many of these people - I am of the third generation - and I would love to be able to talk to some of them about this time in Petaluma's history. I AM going to buy eggs on Cavanaugh Lane on my way home tonight.

This is a delightful read for anyone interested in oral history, from the author's introduction and methodology to the actual words of Petaluma community members. This book shows in a personal way how a small, rural Jewish community was affected over the course of three generations by changes in the larger world.

I spent part of my childhood--I'm 64--on my Jewish grandparents' chicken ranch in Petaluma so I am quite familiar with the material of this book. I was very disappointed with Kann's decision to create composite characters and can see no real reason for him to have done so. It is not a true oral history, which is a shame. Did he have an editor?

This is a delightful vignette of Jewish refugee intellectuals
in a pre WW II small town north of the Bay Area. Identified
for chicken raising it is shown to have been the West Coast center for the refugee intelligentsia hosting the distinguished visitors of that period It is rich in authenticity--oral his-
tories and prescence--and just plain good reading.

that a sleeply little country town north of San Francisco was such a hotbed of Jewish culture and activism?

My only real quibble with the book is the anonymity of the disguised names (probably necessary, but it detracts historically -- one hopes a later edition may come out with a key for those who didn't know the people in the book. But, what a story!

I knew all of the younger people mentioned and most of the the older generation as well. My father knew many of the chicken ranchers and dairy farmers professionally, and my mother was close to a number of the main characters. As a result, I had an inkling of some of this story, but only just.

This is small history, a footnote really, but fascinating.