Synopses & Reviews
The selective relish with which most American Jews affirm their identity -- consuming kosher delicacies once a year, extravagantly celebrating the bar mitzvahs of their sons and the weddings of their daughters -- has usually given rise to satire or consternation.
The Wonders of America offers an alternative perspective, for this pioneering social history of Jewish culture highlights the cultural ingenuity and adaptive genius of American Jewish life.
Drawing on advertisements, etiquette manuals, sermons, and surveys, Jenna Weissman Joselit constructs a lively and humorous account of how three generations of American Jews created their distinctive American culture. This provocative, enlightening study describes the forging of a rich and exuberant modern Jewish identity and makes it clear that it is not the theoretical debates of rabbis and scholars but the small choices of daily life that shape and sustain a culture
Review
"an original work of American Jewish social history . . . felicitously written, filled with entertaining and often hilarious details"
--Philip Lopate, The New York Times Book Review
". . . sparkles with wit and insight . . . this imaginative historian finds in the details of daily life a wellspring of cultural creativity."
--Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett
"Unforgettable."
--Laura Shapiro, The New York Times
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 297-337) and index.
About the Author
Jenna Weissman Joselit is a visiting professor of American studies at Princeton University and the author of several acclaimed books, including
A Perfect Fit. She lives in New York City.