RaveLibrary Journal... engaging, insightful ... The focus throughout this illuminating and invaluable study is on secular modern Jewish writers from Central and Eastern Europe and their descendants. For all Jewish literature collections, and for informed general readers interested in modern Jewish secular literary culture.
E. J. White
RaveLibrary Journal... an important book that reaches across the fields of sociolinguistics and cultural and ethnic history ... There are many terrific examples of New York speech throughout this text and White contextualizes them all extremely well. Highly recommended.
Zadie Smith
RaveLibrary Journal... compelling ... A major voice of contemporary literature, Smith gently and thoughtfully takes on a broad range of issues that are personal to her but speak universally to many of us ... The most compelling observations in Postscript: Contempt As a Virus bring us back to the acute uneasiness of the present moment as reflected in behaviors by British prime minister Boris Johnson’s senior adviser, Dominic Cummings, who violated shelter-in-place orders in Great Britain, and also the brutality of Floyd’s murder ... Smith demonstrates once again that she is a powerful albeit quiet voice for our challenging times. Highly Recommended.
Benjamin Taylor
RaveLibrary Journal... beautifully written ... a far-ranging narrative that moves from allusions to Roth’s fiction to his relationships with writers such as Saul Bellow and John Updike. Insights into personalities and obsessions are gained through the friends’ numerous casual encounters, and while a sense of deep affection between the men permeates the text, Taylor’s observations are neither sentimental nor uncritical. As Roth himself was a masterly, insightful observer, Taylor, too, understands his subject keenly ... Like Roth, Taylor is a terrific raconteur, and readers are likely to be as entertained by his opinions as those of the Pulitzer Prize winning novelist. An eloquent and touching account that should appeal to all who appreciate the value of true friendship.
Mark Cohen
RaveLibrary JournalThis comprehensive biography of Billy Rose...is a compelling story of a man who had a talent for promoting the theatrical arts ... Highly recommended for readers interested in Jewish American culture and New York show business in the mid-20th century.
Lynne Murphy
RaveLibrary JournalFilled with wit and amusing asides, this well-researched, well-documented text often shows that American English is actually preserving its British cousins\' linguistic origins ... Murphy\'s analyses are well argued and often very amusing; her investigation of British vs. American pronunciations are particularly insightful ... Highly recommended both to students of linguistics and general readers interested in language and culture.
