Short Friday: and Other Stories [Paperback]

Isaac Bashevis Singer (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; First Edition edition (January 1, 1963)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374504407
• ISBN-13: 978-0374504403
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,022,230 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The great short- story writer, January 31, 2005

By 

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

This review is from: Short Friday: and Other Stories (Paperback)

Singer is one of the great short story writers. The title story of this collection 'Short Friday' is one of his masterpieces. It is the story of a loving but childless couple and their preparation for Shabbat. And the special kind of Shabbat they have. I will not say anything about the outcome. This is one of Singer's true love stories a story of great sanctity and depth.

Anyone who wants to read truly great short stories should read as much of Isaac Singer as they can.

4.0 out of 5 stars Now What?, June 30, 2003

By 

Randy Keehn (Williston, ND United States) - See all my reviews
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What a pity. In finishing "Short Friday", I have now read all books in English by the author Isaac Bashevis Singer. I guess there are some children's books of his that I haven't read yet and there is always the hope of some new works of his being translated from Yiddish to English. However, I don't know what sort of literary estate he has left behind so I will have to content myself with reading everything over again.

As for "Short Friday", this was a good collection of some of the many short stories Isaac B. Singer has written over the years. I would rate it a 4.5 if there were such a choice on the scale. About half of the stories in this volumne deal with the supernatural which is a populat subject of the author's. There is a wonderful little story of spiritual devotion in "I Place my Reliance on No Man". The title story is a moving tale of love at the end of life. However, the masterpiece of this book is the story "Yentl the Yeshiva Boy". I had read this story in the "Collected Short Stories of Isaac Singer" but it was well worth reading again. Many people may be familiar with the Barbara Streisand movie "Yentl" which is based on this story of a young woman who pretends to be a young man so that she can study the holy books. It is one of the author's best works.

Well, every collection of short stories by Singer is a joy to read because you never know what's coming next. This is one of the better collections and a good place to begin if you haven't read anything by the author before. On the other hand, it's not a bad one to finish with if you've already read everything else I.B. Singer has written.