Growing Up Jewish in America: An Oral History - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0803269005 ISBN 13: 9780803269002

Publisher: Bison Books, 1999

Synopsis

These childhood memories of one hundred men and women, ranging in age from twenty-two to ninety-nine, create a vivid portrait of American Jewish life in the twentieth century.

About this title

About the Author:

Oral historians Myrna Katz Frommer and Harvey Frommer are professors at Dartmouth College. Their jointly written books include It Happened in Brooklyn and It Happened on Broadway.

Review:

“The most compelling reason to study twentieth-century Jewish life in America is to hear and read the wealth of amazing stories, vivid anecdotes, memories, and wisdom, a diverse array of which the Frommers have collected. . . . Some of those who discuss their lives are well known, such as media critic Neil Postman, but each person’s stories enlighten. An account of riding freight cars as a teenager during the Great Depression and another about farming in South Dakota during the 1950s are as revealing as more common descriptions of New York’s Lower East Side. There’s even a story about the discovery of Ivory Soap. Moreover, the Frommers find several intriguing threads that link the contributors’ outlooks. . . . Chapters about the Holocaust, communal ties, and rituals reveal that traditions have been maintained amid the temptations of comfortable assimilation.”—Booklist (Booklist )

“An accessible introduction to the varieties of the American Jewish experience.”—Publishers Weekly (Publishers Weekly )

“One comes away from this book with a heightened sense of how wide the American Jewish spectrum can be.”—Washington Post (Washington Post )

About this edition

• Publisher: Bison Books
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0803269005
• ISBN 13: 9780803269002
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 264
• Editor: Frommer Myrna Katz, Frommer Harvey