Live and Be Well: A Celebration of Yiddish Culture in America
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Book Overview
Like a warm family album, this lively book heralds and documents the rich and vibrant traditions of Yiddish-speaking immigrants and their children in "the golden land," from the first arrivals to the Second World War. Meet the famous, the infamous, and the unknown--from hotelier Jenny Grossinger to mobster Jake "Greasy Thumb" Guzik to Moses Solomon, the would-be "Jewish Babe Ruth;" from anarchist Emma Goldman to entertainer Eddie Cantor. Share the struggles and the triumphs of the labor unions, of Yiddish playwrights and poets. Enter the sweatshops of New York's Lower East Side and the first Jewish settlements in Los Angeles and Chicago. Taste pastrami from Canter's Deli in Los Angeles, knishes from Yonah Shimmel's in New York City, and the famous "smookmit" of the Montreal ghetto. Lavishly illustrated with photos, cartoons, theater posters, and song sheets, here is a book to delight and inform. It is a joyous celebration of life.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:0813528127
ISBN13:9780813528120
Release Date:March 2000
Publisher:Rutgers University Press
Length:192 Pages
Weight:1.80 lbs.
Dimensions:0.8" x 8.7" x 11.2"
Customer Reviews
2 ratings
Great Book even if your not a Jew!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 20 years ago
I was born and raised Christain, but I check this book out from the library and I was fasenated, it's worth a look!
A Must Read!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
"Live and be Well", a Celebration of Yiddish Culture in America, is a must read for Jews and Non-Jews alike. Personally, I loved the book and recommend it highly for the following reasons: The alphabetical fashion in which the content is arranged makes it so easy to read and reminisce,particularly as an elderly person (85) who remembers seeing so many of these extraordinary people in vaudeville,on the theatre stage, on the screen, in community centers, and hearing some on the radio. Performers like Fanny Brice to Sophie Tucker, writers like Sholem Asch to Clifford Odets, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Social Workers like Lilian Wald,Editors like Abraham Cahan,and so on and so on, become more than famous persons of Jewish heritage. All of these people came to America struggled and contributed every conceivable talent to this country of opportunity. The writers Shepard and Levi, with their wonderful photographs, accurate facts,clarity of descriptions of people and events makes the reader feel proud of being an American!
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