Salome of the Tenements (Transaction Large Print Books) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Anzia Yezierska (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 25, 1999 | Series: Transaction Large Print Books

Salome is a gritty portrait of life on the Lower East Side of New York City in the early 1900s. Wealthy philanthropists devoted to the settlement house movement make plans to eradicate poverty and to erase the more unsettling signs of foreigness found among the immigrant poor. Sonya Vrunsky is poor, smart, and beautiful. She hates being patronized and she craves the pleasure that money does buy. When the Yiddish newspaper she works for sends her off to interview a philanthropist, she decides she will marry him.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Both a biting critique of the liberal paternalism of the Progressive era and a utopian vision of assimilation and upward mobility." --The Nation --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 235 pages
• Publisher: Transaction Large Print; Lrg edition (August 25, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560004789
• ISBN-13: 978-1560004783
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,361,015 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not on par with the rest of Yezierska's work, November 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Salome of the Tenements (Radical Novel Reconsidered) (Paperback)

Salome is a very uplifting novel. The characters are well developed and the plot is interesting, however, Yezierska relies on a far-fetched outcome. While this is an enjoyable read, I wasn't as touched as I was with Bread Givers and Yezierska's other works. The love story relies on overdone and sometimes cheesy themes that are predictable, although interesting.

For those who love Yezierska, this is something you should definitely read. For newcomers, I feel that BreadGivers would be more gripping.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well Worth Reading, January 4, 2006

By 

John (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Salome of the Tenements (Radical Novel Reconsidered) (Paperback)

I had never heard of the novel Salome of the Tenements, or even the author Anzia Yezieraska, when I was assigned the novel in a graduate class last semester. The rest of the students in the class hadn't either. Upon reading the book, however, I discovered that such ignorance is tragic. Salome of the Tenements is a fascinating work that should certainly be more widely known.

The novel is the sometimes-melodramatic story of Sonya, a Russian Jewish immigrant. She falls in love with John Manning, a philanthropic American millionaire. The chronicle of the rise and fall of this relationship reveals much about the poor immigrant experience in America. Additionally, the novel comments philosophically on the failure of love, the difficulty of obtaining spiritual fulfillment, and the difficulties of attaining identity in Modernist America.

There is so much that is interesting about the novel. It's wonderful to see it in print. Hopefully, it will begin to reach a much wider audience.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not for the learned reader., August 31, 2009

By 

J. Frazier - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Salome of the Tenements (Radical Novel Reconsidered) (Paperback)

I was recently assigned to read this book for an upper level english literature course at my university. This was a poor choice on the professor's part. Apparently it received all kinds of praise, as can be seen on the back cover, but I don't really understand why. I tossed this on the floor after reading the first five pages, and was unable to pick it up again until the day before we were to have the reading finished. It's like reading something that some high school girl wrote one day out of boredom. The characters are unbelievable, the main character in particular seeming to be a form of self-indulgence on the author's part. It is overly-idealistic and romantic, even for the period in which it was written. I certainly would not recommend this novel to anyone, young or old. It is pure rubbish.