This study contains almost 150 written texts in the form of short stories, essays, novels, biographies and memoirs to give the reader an insight into every aspect of Jewish life and experience. It includes contributions from many well-known Jews including Anne Frank, Philip Roth, and Franz Kafka.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
From the vast textual and pictorial resources of the Jewish past, Cantor has culled 150 selections that offer a "kaleidoscopic view of Jewish behavior and consciousness through multiple times and places." He defines 10 patterns of behavior and divides the book accordingly: ambivalence and marginality; growing up among Jews; maturing and dying; intoxication with divine power; victims and martyrs; hoping and coping; Jewish women; striking back against adversity; Jewish individuals who have become "icons"; and alternative dimensions of Jewish culture and society. His choice of excerpts from short stories, essays, novels, biographies and memoirs shows the imagination and range of Jewish writing, as Cantor balances the wisdom of rabbis and Jewish leaders with the voices of ordinary people and the insights of writers and rebels from Sholem Aleichem to Jack Benny. Cantor (History/New York University) organizes his opus by topic and category rather than chronology. This structure becomes disconcerting when selections about the Holocaust precede those about the Spanish Expulsion of 1492 and the mass suicide of Jews at Masada in A.D. 73. He passes the litmus test of inclusiveness, featuring works by two often-overlooked groups?women and Sephardic Jews. Although the tone of the historical overview and introductory notes in this unconventional anthology is slightly patronizing and professorial, the gems contained in this collection are well worth the effort it takes to mine them.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Through 150 selections of short stories, essays, novel excerpts, portions of biographies, and segments of memoirs, The Jewish Experience offers a kaleidoscopic view of Jewish behavior and consciousness. Cantor, a scholar and historian, divides the book into 10 sections, each devoted to a specific theme: living on the edge, growing up, maturing and dying, divine intoxication, victims and martyrs, hoping and coping, women, striking back, icons, and alternative intimations. Each section begins with a brief thematic introduction by Cantor. Excerpts from most of the influential Jewish writers are gathered, including Jerome Weidman (I Can Get It for You Wholesale), Henry Roth (Call It Sleep), Sholem Aleichem, I. L. Peretz, Mordecai Richler (The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz), Philip Roth (Goodbye, Columbus), Bernard Malamud (The Assistant), Primo Levi (Survival in Auschwitz), Aharon Appelfeld (Badenheim), Irving Howe (The World of Our Fathers), Franz Kafka, and Amos Oz. Cantor has put together an encyclopedic work certain to rank among the modern classics in Jewish anthological writings. George Cohen
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The essential reference anthology in its field,
By Michael Wells Glueck "EditAndPublishYourBook.com" (Nantucket, Massachusetts, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Jewish Experience (Hardcover)
This collection of essays, short stories, memoirs, and excerpts from novels ranges from subjects as diverse as theology, history, Jewish humor, and Holocaust survival to Erica Jong's reflections on sexual fulfillment. It is a book which should be owned by every family interested in studying the roots and multifaceted social contributions of a people whose religion emerged nearly four centuries before the birth of Joshua, "whom the Gentiles Jesus call."
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