Matzo Balls for Breakfast and Other Memories of Growing Up Jewish [Hardcover]

Alan King (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 16, 2004

A collection of celebrity anecdotes about their Jewish childhoods includes contributions by such figures as Billy Joel, Billy Crystal, Michael Bloomberg, Woody Allen, and Steven Spielberg. 50,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fans of Alan King (Name-Dropping: The Life & Lies of Alan King), who died in May, will welcome this collection of over 75 reminiscences by Jews in the arts, politics, religion and sports, which Larry King conceived and organized. Although Alan doesn't contribute a piece, he does provide a succinct and perceptive introduction to each section. While some selections, such as those by Gene Wilder, Sid Caesar and Don Rickles, are too brief, the vast majority offer humorous, touching, informed and engaging perspectives on what it means to be born a Jew. Jerusalem Report contributor David Margolis laments the failure of his parents' generation to pass on a real knowledge of Judaism to their children. Faye Moskowitz (Her Face in the Mirror: Jewish Women on Mothers and Daughters) contributes a funny and moving portrait of her grandmother's magical powers as she kneaded challah or stirred a witch's brew of beets, sugar, garlic, salt, allspice and bay leaves into delicious sweet and sour borscht once a year. Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois congresswoman, explores how becoming an elected official made her more conscious of her Jewish identity. Appended are three eulogies given at King's funeral by Billy Crystal, Rick Moranis and Barbara Walters.
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From Booklist

Some sleepless night, pick up this collection of short, sweet reminiscences; it's like an old friend whose many facets never cease to entertain and enlighten. The section "Life in the Jewish Family and Neighborhood" contains recollections from Susan Stamberg, Neil Sedaka, Alan Dershowitz, and others, hailing from Manhattan, Winnipeg, Brooklyn, and, of course, Brighton Beach, that fabled neighborhood of "old country" Jews. "Jew in a Non-Jewish World" contains Neil Simon (speaking of Brighton Beach) on persecution, recalling that "they let me live because I was a good softball player," and Lisa Solod, whose southern accent comes from growing up in the small, tight Jewish community in Morristown, Tennessee--"the proving ground for my life as a Jew." "Milestones and Holidays" includes Leslea Newman (another Brighton Beacher) recalling her bobbeh's (grandmother's) matzo ball soup for seder, served in the pot she inherited and uses today. Outstanding in "My Defining Moment" is Jamie Lee Curtis, who delineates the four major connections she, though raised essentially without religion (as she is raising her children, too), has made to her heritage. What with warmth, wisdom, and humor on hand throughout, this is a book you don't have to be Jewish to like--so enjoy. Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (November 16, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743260732
• ISBN-13: 978-0743260732
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,174,761 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Regardless of your religion, it will move you at times!, May 31, 2005

By 

Blaine Greenfield "eclectic reader" (Belle Meade, NJ) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Matzo Balls for Breakfast and Other Memories of Growing Up Jewish (Hardcover)

A reader suggested that I might enjoy MATZO BALLS FOR BREAKFAST AND OTHER MEMORIES OF GROWING UP JEWISH by Alan King, the great comedian who conceived and developed the book in the period before he died in 2004.

She was wrong, I loved MATZO BALLS (almost as much as the actual food product).

It is a series of essays written by famous people--many of them entertainers--about what being Jewish is all about . . . they range from Neil Sedaka writing about not becoming a cantor to Melissa Manchester describing how she came to find her way to the
father . . . in a final section, Rick Moranis, Barbara Walters and Billy Crystal recall the Alan King they knew so well and laughed with so often.

And don't feel you have to be Jewish to enjoy this material . . . regardless of your religion, it will move you at times . . . and make you smile, at others, as a result of gentle humor such as this tale from Barry Louis Polisar (a four-time Parent's Choice Award winner for his
books and music for children):

My grandmother used to tell me a story that her father, Louis, used to tell about God giving the Jewish people religion. "It's really not such a hard religion," God said. "Here, I'll write it down for you. You try it for a while, and if it doesn't suit you, bring it back." So the Jewish
people tried it and found it was not too hard. For days, caravan upon caravan stretched across the desert carrying Haftorahs, mezuzahs, yarmulkes, prayer shawls, commentaries, and prayer books. God looked out at the caravans that stretched to the horizon and said,
"What's all this? All I wrote down for you were ten simple commandments."

Uri Geller contributed his favorite Alan King joke:
Mrs. Cohen is yelling at the lifeguard who just pulled her husband out of the ocean. He tells her is going to give artificial respiration. She yells back, "You'll ever give my Benny real respiration or nothing!"

There are also a series of wonderful quotes throughout the book, including these I particularly liked:

The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.--Calvin Trillin

If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name at a Swiss bank.--Woody Allen

I once wanted to become an atheist but I gave up--they have no holidays.--Henny Youngman