A Jew Today [Paperback]

Elie Wiesel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 12, 1979

In this powerful and wide-ranging collection of essays, letters and diary entries, weaving together all the periods of the author's life -- from his childhood in Transylvania to Auschwitz and Buchenwald, Paris, New York -- Elie Wiesel, acclaimed as one of the most gifted and sensitive writers of our time, probes, from the particular point of view of his Jewishness, such central moral and political issues as Zionism and the Middle East conflict, Solzhenitsyn and Soviet anti-Semitism, the obligations of American Jews toward Israel, the Holocaust and its cheapening in the media.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Rich in autobiographical, philosophical, moral and historical implications...a jew today reveals a matchless writer in complete control of his power:" -- Chicago Tribune

Language Notes

Text: English, French (translation)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; Vintage Books ed edition (August 12, 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394740572
• ISBN-13: 978-0394740577
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.5 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,038,645 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Elie Wiesel is the author of more than forty books, including his unforgettable international best sellers Night and A Beggar in Jerusalem, winner of the Prix Médicis. He has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States Congressional Gold Medal, and the French Legion of Honor with the rank of Grand Cross. In 1986, he received the Nobel Peace Prize. He is Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities and University Professor at Boston University.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unforgettable, July 4, 2000

By 

ISAAC KAC (RIO DE JANEIRO, RIO DE JANEIRO Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Jew Today (Paperback)

I was touched by this book. I didn't know a book could change your life. After all, it's only words. And we live in an era ruled by the power of images.But Elie Wiesel, despite all suffering and humiliation that he faced during his life, brings us joy and hope . Joy and hope is his answer to the ashes of the holocaust. If the jews are the chosen people, then Elie Wiese is my vote for role model.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Profound and moving essays on the Jewish situation, August 4, 2007

By 

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

This review is from: A Jew Today (Mass Market Paperback)

This volume contains some of Wiesel's most important essays. In one he explains how his meetings with Francois Mauriac led to his writing of his masterpiece, one of the important works of the twentieth- century,"Night."In another he chides Solzhenitsyn for his failure to include the special sufferings of the Jews in his vast account of Soviet prison- world, the Gulag. In yet another he reflects on the aftermath of the war in Biafra. In still another he parses for us the meaning of "Jews of Silence' and how it was intended not for the Russian Jews captive in the Soviet Union but for those who did not speak out in their behalf. In still another he chides the U.N. for its immoral 'Zionism is Racism' motion. In another he writes of his saintly grandfather murdered by the Nazis.

In many essays he stresses the value of unity for the Jewish people. In many he defends Israel against its accusers. In all his awareness of the worlds and people lost in the Shoah are present.

All in all Wiesel reveals himself here as a great voice for the Jewish people, and humanity as a whole.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, June 7, 2009

By 

Johana Y. Nadler "Eternal scholar" (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Jew Today (Mass Market Paperback)

Arrived pretty fast, which I greatly appreciated. Condition great. Will use this seller again.