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The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N (Paperback)

~ (Author) "In the third week of the new term, Mr. Parkhill was forced to the conclusion that Mr. Kaplan's case was rather difficult..." (more)
Key Phrases: fat little man, vat time, recess bell, Miss Mitnick, Hyman Kaplan, Norman Bloom (more...)
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
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  Hardcover, March 29, 2000 -- $66.95 $20.82
  Paperback, March 19, 1968 $8.57 $0.48 $0.01
  Audio, Cassette, Audiobook -- $148.04 $71.35
  Unknown Binding, December 31, 1937 -- -- --

Frequently Bought Together

The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N + The Return of Hyman Kaplan (Prion Humour Classics) + The New Joys of Yiddish: Completely Updated
Price For All Three: $38.78

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  • This item: The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N by Leo Calvin Rosten

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The humorous adventures of Hyman Kaplan, the irrepressible student at the american Night Preparatory School for Adults, and his personal war with the English language. A classic work of american humor.


About the Author

Leonard Q. Ross (1908-1997), born in Lodz, Poland, was the recipient of the Freedom Foundation award and the George Polk Memorial Award. He is best known for introducing American audiences to a wealth of Jewish lexical and cultural delights. A frequent contributor to Harper's and The New Yorker, he taught and lectured in political science at several universities.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 156 pages
  • Publisher: Harvest Books (March 20, 1968)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0156278111
  • ISBN-13: 978-0156278119
  • Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #266,635 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
In the third week of the new term, Mr. Parkhill was forced to the conclusion that Mr. Kaplan's case was rather difficult. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
fat little man, vat time, recess bell
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Miss Mitnick, Hyman Kaplan, Norman Bloom, Miss Caravello, Miss Higby, Jake Popper, Julius Scissor, Miss Goldberg, Miss Schneiderman, Abraham Lincollen, Hau Kay, Miss Kowalski, Open Questions, Abram Lincohen, Esk Titcher, Sam Pinsky, Coney Island, Miss Rochelle Goldberg, Miss Schnepfe
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Customer Reviews

17 Reviews
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 (16)
4 star:
 (1)
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Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Written Seventy Years Ago Hyman Kaplan Still Delights, March 7, 2005
By L. Young "palmtree2000" (West Orange, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
Having just begun teaching English As A Second Language to a group of Asian adults, a relative thought I might enjoy "The Education of Hyman Kaplan". The novel takes place entirely at the American Night Preparatory School for Adults. There under the tutelage of Mr. Parkhill, Hyman Kaplan, Miss Mitnick, Miss Caravello, Mrs. Moskowitz and an assortment of Jewish and Italian immigrants struggle with the complexities of the English language, anxious to master the language and learn about the history and culture of their newly adopted home. The irrepressible Mr. Kaplan takes center stage in the classroom with his singular logic in using the English language. Abraham Lincoln becomes Abram Lincohen, King George III of England is an autocrap, and Valley Forge becomes Velly Fudges. Kaplan conjugates the tense to die as "die, dead, funeral", and when talking of the contents of a newpaper he can't understand why he must say "it said", instead of "he said", since the paper is decidedly of the masculine gender. It's the Harold Tribune after all. This is a hilarious yet touching book. We are never laughing at Hyman Kaplan's linguistic foibles but with him, as we appreciate the struggles of all immigrants, those seventy years ago, or those today to come to terms with becoming Americans and learning the language that binds us together.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Genius of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N, December 19, 2001
By David Dennis (Woodland Hills, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Hyman Kaplan is a leader of men, an inspiring, eloquent orator with a true sense of drama. He forges his own paths, makes his own rules.

Unfortunately, those rules only rarely coincide with those of grammar, spelling and pronunciation. And so he eternally flunks the beginners' grade in English despite awing both friend and foe.

What moves me to write a review is what the other reviewers seem to miss: H*Y*M*A*N, for all his mistakes, is a winner of a character, not a loser. This book is true testimony to the talents of immigrants as well as their tribulations.

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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Closer Look, December 8, 1997
By A Customer
The Education of Hyman Kaplan is an almost lost creation of Leo Rosten, a book I discovered a few years ago. On the face this book is a comedy of language set among the immigrant students of an adult language school in New York. There is no doubt the Rosten has a flair for bringing out the hilarious subtleties of the English language, and the book moves so quickly it seems unfairly short. Mr. Parkhill's beginners grade classroom is the scene of countless battle and wars, where the students struggle against syntax, diction, and each other. Some of the botched quotes from Shakespeare are masterpieces in themselves. I had no idea a book of this kind could be such a riot, and never knew our language was so close to lunacy.

The hapless hero, Kaplan, provides a wonderful vehicle for Rosten to maneuver through the pitfalls and traps of the many idiomed English Language. However, behind the books' mangled metaphors, garbled grammar, and reinvented history, lies the world of the immigrant in New York City. The light-hearted episodes are interspersed with an occasional look into the difficult life of a brand new American. These chapters show the optimism and the will to succeed that Kaplan's fellow students brought with them to America. Kaplan himself is an emblem of endurance; forever doomed to stay in the beginners grade, yet never despairing of the always elusive verb tenses.

This book has only one "weakness": it does not cater to cynicism. It looks ahead, from the eyes of each of the characters, to a better time, a better place, with better pronunciation. This is a glimpse of the Dream of America that I had not seen, a different view that fascinated me. I think the strangest thing is that the book is never preachy. It is likely this is because Rosten wrote this book as a mature writer, with many other works under his belt. His tendency to constant revision has left this book a polished gem. Read, laugh, and enjoy.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars i laughed very loudly
This book is recommended to readers who have a keen and perhaps wry sense of humor, (think Carol Burnett skits. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Tomm

5.0 out of 5 stars Kaplan lives on
Kaplan Lives On by A. J. Goldsmith



The Education of Hyman Kaplan was published 72 years ago but the story is as fresh today as it was then... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Abe J. Goldsmithh

5.0 out of 5 stars Teaching English? Thinking over immigration as an issue? Read this wonderful and heartwarming book
These stories set in Mr. Parkhill's classroom at the American Night Preparatory School for Adults ("English -- Americanization -- Civics -- Preparation for Naturalization") are... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Donald M. Bishop

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Book That Deserves To Be Rediscovered
This book, along with its sequel, "The Return of H*y*m*a*n K*a*p*l*a*n," (and don't be fooled, those stars are important) is a beautiful work and one that I'm surprised hasn't... Read more
Published on February 16, 2006 by Political Critic

4.0 out of 5 stars Loving and humorous
As a new ESL teacher, my husband thought I'd enjoy this book. H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N* is an irrepressible immigrant to the US, struggling to master English, but that doesn't stop... Read more
Published on May 16, 2005 by J. Marren

5.0 out of 5 stars Still the funniest book ever written!
Think you can read an uproariously funny book without laughing out loud? Think again. Adventures of an English-as-a-second-language class for new immigrants in 1950's America.
Published on August 19, 2003 by BobDD

5.0 out of 5 stars Still Funny After All These Years
Most of the stories in this very short and very funny book appeared in The New Yorker...almost 70 years ago(!)

Great humor is indeed timeless. I recently re-read this book. Read more

Published on September 27, 2002 by Tom Roberts

5.0 out of 5 stars Anyone obsessed with Political Correctness should read this
Fentastik! My! such vonderful void? How is Kaplan tinking of such a void?
This book is absolutely great. Read more
Published on August 24, 2002 by Samuel Krikorian

5.0 out of 5 stars Hyman Kaplan
"The Education of Hyman Kaplan" is a delightful, funny, enchanting book. Always excited to work and participate in class, Mr. Read more
Published on July 7, 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Atwentieth century classic
With Hyman Kaplan and Mr'Pockhill'and classmates Leo Rosten shows that he is the Grand Master of phonetically rendered dialogue. Read more
Published on November 19, 1999

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