King David's Harp (Paperback)

by Stephen A. Sadow (Editor), Ilan Stavans (Series Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"This is a wonderful introduction to Latin American writers and their craft." (Outlook, Canada )

Product Description
In this collection of fifteen essays, Jewish Latin American writers speak for themselves about their lives, their literary work, their formative experiences, and the Jewish communities in Latin America and the United States. Included are writers from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, and Venezuela, about half of whom live outside their country of origin. With the exception of Alberto Gerchunoff, arguably the father of Jewish Latin American writing, all the writers are living and writing actively.

King David's Harp is unified by a constant sense of motion. Jos Kozer and Ilan Stavans, for example, give the impression of being in perpetual motion. Many, including Ariel Dorfman and Alcina Lubitch Domecq, have changed countries, languages, political systems; others, like Ricardo Feierstein and Margo Glantz remain in their country of birth. Most are multilingual. Some - Marjorie Agosin and Alberto Gerchunoff, for example - spoke Yiddish as their first language, only to become deeply attached to Spanish later on, or Portuguese, in the case of Moacyr Scliar. All these complex individuals move back and forth among different worlds, in circumstances that could be seen as restrictive, frustrating, and unforgiving. Yet they write with prodigious energy of lives that contain many surprises.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 290 pages
• Publisher: University of New Mexico Press (August 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826320872
• ISBN-13: 978-0826320872
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,834,463 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good book with great historical and political impact, October 14, 1999

By A Customer

This book is a very important piece of literature. It is entertaining as well as historically relevant and informative.

This book takes a look at the lives of the diaspora in Latin America. It's an amazing collection of short stories by some of the most talented writers in Latin America.

They come from different countries and different cultures, but share the thread of being Jewish in a different world. Some are transplanted, some have always lived in Latin America.

This book opened my eyes to the life, the struggles and happinesses of the Jews who live and work in South America. I think everyone should read this book.

The history contained in this book is amazing. Most of the gentiles that I know have no idea about this part of history. We were not taught it in school. Can you imagine fleeing persecution in your homeland, finding yourself in a strange country with strange food, language, and customs, and down the street from you live the war criminals who forced you to flee?

Not all the short stories in this book are a great read, but they are all very important. It's a voice that should be heard!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Book on Experiences of the Marginalized, "Other.", January 22, 2003

By	Harvey M. Rosenwasser (Key Biscayne, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: King David's Harp: Autobiographical Essays by Jewish Latin American Writers (Jewish Latin America series) (Hardcover)

This collection of essays is an important work for all minorities who want to introspectively examine their own place in a multicultural society. While the focus is on the Latin American experience, the authors address themes of displacement, longing, belonging, marginalization, prejudice, immigrant- inter-generational conflicts, and change. It also provides insight, and hopefully empathy, on these same topics for those of the established majority culture. The book also raises the questions about the goals of a multi-cultural society, and if assimilation is a worthy goal in the view of the majority and the, "other."