Growing Up Jewish: An Anthology [Hardcover]

Jay David (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1996

Twenty-six personal accounts by such popular authors as Edna Ferber, Chaim Potok, and Philip Roth explore issues of Jewish identity, language, generational differences, heritage, and rites of passage.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

America is a great ocean of stories. This volume of excerpts contains stories and essays about being Jewish and young in 20th-century America. Despite the anti-Semitism and poverty they detail, the personal anecdotes and descriptions are fascinating windows into other people's joys and successes. Many of the pieces are excerpts from novels, e.g., Philip Roth's The Facts and Chaim Potok's The Chosen. Editor David (Growing Up Black, Avon, 1992. rev. ed.) has divided the selections into three parts: "Making Their Way," "Discovering 'Americanness,' " and "New Voices." The closeness and the estrangement of the generations and between men and women are the motifs of many of the writers. Cynthia Ozick's beautiful selection describes both "Yiddishkeit" and a writer's childhood. Ari Goldman's memoir of his life after the divorce of his parents is especially poignant. A good introduction to Jewish life in America.?Gene Shaw, NYPL
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

David has collected 26 stories and essays by Jewish American writers from the nineteenth century to the 1990s. Part 1 explores the experiences of some first-generation immigrants and includes an excerpt from Edna Ferber's 1938 autobiography, A Peculiar Treasure. The pieces in part 2 show how Jewish life gradually became Americanized; included are an excerpt from Chaim Potok's novel The Chosen, Grace Paley's story "The Loudest Voice," an autobiographical essay by Cynthia Ozick, and an excerpt from Philip Roth's autobiography. In part 3, three writers tell what it's like growing up in the U.S. today. Anne Roiphe, Lynne Sharon Schwartz, Max Apple, Kate Simon, and Herbert Gold are among those featured. All 26 pieces, some by lesser known but equally talented writers, explore the issues of Jewish identity and heritage. George Cohen

Product Details

• Hardcover: 249 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co; 1st edition (May 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688128246
• ISBN-13: 978-0688128241
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #624,338 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #97 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > Jewish American

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars KEEPING MEMORIES ALIVE, June 24, 2000

By 

Bonita L. Davis - See all my reviews

This review is from: Growing Up Jewish (Paperback)

Avon Books has produced another gem in its "Growing Up" series this time focusing on a minority religious group that has had an overwhelming impact on American and European cultures. Growing Up Jewish tells the story from the perspective of twenty-five Jewish writers who share with us their early memories of coming of age in America. Each author celebrates their heritage through fictional stories, essays and autobiographies. Why, one might ask, do we need another book about Jewish life in America? After all, isn't there an abundance of material on the subject? Haven't they assimilated themselves into the American landscape to the point of being no different from their gentile counter-parts? Although the above question are pertinent they miss the point. A people ceases to exist when the stories and memories are forgotten from one generation to another. Growing Up gives the reader a snapshot of these rich memories of young people as immigrants, conflicts with their religious practices from the old country, prejudices from their gentile communities and other challenges which calls into question what it means to be Jewish in America. The sharing of these stories brings with it clarity for some and even more questions for others. This is a must read book for those wanting to re-aquaint themselves with their Jewish heritage as well as a great literary resource of the finest Jewish writers in America. Keeping memories alive is even more important as we enter an age where memory is denied ( the Holocaust never happened), assimilation has dulled cultural and religious recall and antisemitism once again rears its ugly head.

5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting collection, January 15, 2005

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Growing Up Jewish: An Anthology (Hardcover)

This is an interesting collection a strange mixture of memoir and fictional accounts of growing up Jewish in America. I found Ari Goldman's story of his parent's divorce when he was six, and how he contended with this especially interesting. Philip Roth on the friends of his high- school years was also very good. I honestly did not find anything ' great' in the work but there is a lot of good and pleasurable work here. I would too have liked to see a greater focus on the religious aspect of growing up Jewish.