Some documentary material reflecting aspects of American Jewish history—but, as an entity, less coherent or substantial than Meltzer's various earlier books on the subject. A handful of selections show Jews confronting historical anti-Semitism: Asser Levy's appeal to the New Amsterdam authorities for the Jews' "burgher rights"; the protest of three Paducah, Ky., Jews, to Lincoln, against Grant's order expelling Jews from the Tennessee district; a rabbi's memoir of bucking Klan agitation in 1920s Indiana. A considerable number, especially of early date, attest to Jewish participation in mainstream American events—the Revolution (a patriot, a Tory), the Mexican War, Western settlement, the Gold Rush. Also of this ilk are Ernestine Rose's 1832 feminist speech and August Bondi's recollection of John Brown. A very few derive, without Meltzer's precisely saying so, from particularly Jewish union or radical activity (Rose Schneiderman's Triangle Fire speech, Emma Goldman's protest against deportation). The largest number, however, are snippets of Jewish life. Haym Solomon (1783) tells an uncle, in Europe, "it is not in my power to give you or any relations yearly allowances." Harry Roskolenko recalls his first visit to the sweatshop where his father worked ("When the foreman laughed, everybody laughed. . ."); Mary Antin recalls her father's euphoria on the first day of school. These are classics of immigrant autobiography—and so is Maurice Hindus' awe at "the decorative and juice-soaked tomato," and other things American, or Charles Angoff's memory of his father's disdain for just such American things. The chronicles of more recent times mainly commemorate salient experiences (a Jewish G.I. at Buchenwald, an Auschwitz survivor, an American kibbutznik) and have little individual flavor. Not an especially auspicious group, then, or in any single way outstanding-except for some of those vivid and affecting immigrant impressions.
Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 0690042272
Page Count: 200
Publisher: T.Y. Crowell
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1982
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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