Synopses & Reviews
When Everyday Jews was first published in Poland in 1935, the Jewish Left was scandalized by the sex scenes, and I. B. Singer complained that the novel was too bleak to be psychologically credible. Yet within two years Perleand#8217;s novel was heralded as a modern Yiddish masterpiece. Offering a unique blend of raw sexuality and romantic love, thwarted desire and spiritual longing, Everyday Jews is now considered Perleand#8217;s consummate achievement.
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The voice of Mendl, the novel's 12-year-old narrator, is precisely captured by this artfully simple translation. Mendl's impoverished and dysfunctional family struggles to survive in a nameless Polish provincial town. In his unsettled world, most ordinary people yearn to be somewhere elseand#151;or someone else. As Mendl journeys to adulthood, Perle captures the complex interplay of Christians and Jews, weekdays and Sabbaths, town and country, dream and reality, against a relentless and never-ending battle of the sexes.
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Review
"I wasandnbsp;enthralled byandnbsp;Perle's
Everyday Jews.andnbsp;It shows the tension betweenandnbsp;Eros and Thanatos in a Polishandnbsp;town in a way that combines the phantasmagorical work of Bruno Schulzandnbsp;with the ethnological reportage of S. Ansky. An extraordinarily document, written in a vivid style,andnbsp;theandnbsp;blunt, animatedandnbsp;reaction it awakenedandnbsp;is not unlike theandnbsp;prudishnessandnbsp;that greeted D.H. Lawrence's
Women in Love when it first came out
.andnbsp;And to think that even Isaac Bashevis Singer blushed."and#8212;Ilan Stavansandnbsp;
Review
and#8220;Widely regarded as one of the classics of modern Yiddish literature, this novel merits serious attention. . . . The learned and profound introduction by D. Roskies gives the reader the background to the author and the novel so that it can be understood in context.and#8221;--
Religious Studies ReviewReview
and#8220;Perleand#8217;s highly regarded Yiddish novel reads with freshness and vitality. It is an important historical document as well as a fine work of art.and#8221;--Joseph Sherman, Oxford University
Synopsis
< div=""> When < i=""> Everyday Jews<> was first published in Poland in 1935, the Jewish Left was scandalized by the sex scenes, and I. B. Singer complained that the novel was too bleak to be psychologically credible. Yet within two years Perle& #8217; s novel was heralded as a modern Yiddish masterpiece. Offering a unique blend of raw sexuality and romantic love, thwarted desire and spiritual longing, < i=""> Everyday Jews<> is now considered Perle& #8217; s consummate achievement.< br=""> < br=""> & nbsp; < br=""> < br=""> The voice of Mendl, the novel's 12-year-old narrator, is precisely captured by this artfully simple translation. Mendl's impoverished and dysfunctional family struggles to survive in a nameless Polish provincial town. In his unsettled world, most ordinary people yearn to be somewhere else& #8212; or someone else. As Mendl journeys to adulthood, Perle captures the complex interplay of Christians and Jews, weekdays and Sabbaths, town and country, dream and reality, against a relentless and never-ending battle of the sexes. < br=""> < br=""> & nbsp; < br=""> < br=""> & nbsp; < br=""> < br=""> < iv="">
About the Author
Yehoshue Perle (1888-1943) was one of Polandand#8217;s most popular, controversial, and prolific Yiddish novelists of the interwarand#151;and wartimeand#151;period. In his introduction to the novel, David G. Roskies, Sol and Evelyn Henkind Professor of Yiddish Literature at the Jewish Theological Seminary, opens up Perle's tragic life and undiscovered oeuvre to a new generation of readers.