The Oxford Book of Jewish Stories

By: Stavans, Ilan

Book Overview

In this remarkably wide-ranging anthology, Ilan Stavans has collected the work of more than fifty notable Jewish writers from around the globe, weaving these diverse viewpoints and voices into a rich portrait of Jewish literary tradition.

The Oxford Book of Jewish Stories takes us from the mid-1800s right up to the present, encompassing the full spectrum of Jewish writing around the world. The variety of tales captured here is stunning. Readers will find stories such as "A Yom Kippur Scandal" by Sholem Aleichem, the father of Yiddish literature; "Before the Law" by Franz Kafka; "Looking for Mr. Green" by Saul Bellow; "The Spinoza of Market Street" by Isaac Bashevis Singer; and "Midrash on Happiness" by Grace Paley. Stavans has included many pieces by Americans, including such markedly different writers as Cynthia Ozick, Bernard Malamud, Moacyr Seliar, Stanley Elkin, Delmore Schwartz, Dan Jacobson, Francine Prose, Allegra Goodman, and Philip Roth. And here too are pieces from around the globe, by writers no less varied: Isaac Babel, Italo Svevo, Primo Levi, Elias Canetti, Amos Oz, and Danilo Kis. What emerges in the end is proof of an observation by Ba'al Makshoves--that the Jews may have many languages and a dozen echoes in foreign tongues, but only one literature. And it is one of the finest in the world.

The many marvelous tales that fill The Oxford Book of Jewish Stories affirm that a shared identity can exist without sterile uniformity--and that writers can engage their religious and cultural heritage without losing touch with those rich, complex ambiguities that inhabit the heart.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195110196
• ISBN13: 9780195110197
• Release Date: August 1970
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, Incorporated
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 1.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 5.9" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Stavan's book of Jewish stories

This is a great collection of over 50 stories by well known and not so well known writers from several different countries. Included are works by Yiddish masters such as Abramovitsh, Peretz and Sholem Aleichem as well as one of Lamed Shapiro's brutal pogrom stories,"The Kiss". From South Africa there's Nadine Gordimer, and Dan Jacobson's moving tale, "The Zulu and the Zeide" and from America, some classic stories by Roth, Malamud, Bellow and Singer. The Introduction provides some historical context and an excellent overview of the themes running through the stories. Anyone who appreciates good literature will be richly rewarded by a journey through these works.

A Comprehensive Collection

Stavans, Ilan (editor). "The Oxford Book of Jewish Stories", Oxford University Press, 1998. A Comprehensive Collection Amos Lassen "The Oxford Book of Jewish Short Stories" features the works of over 50 international Jewish writers and dates from the mid 19th century through the twentieth century, Some of the authors included are Sholem Aleichem, Franz Kafka, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Bernard Malamud, Saul Bellow, Grace Paley, Primo Levi, Elie Weisel, Aharon Applefeld and Amos Oz. The stories were collected and the book was edited by Ilan Stavans and he provides an informative introduction as well as incisive head notes. The volume is far reaching and it manages to collect the writings of the Diaspora into a single text which shows the connection of Jews everywhere and at any period of time. In the introduction, Stavans gives us a discussion of tradition and language and a chronology of Jewish literature from 1767 to 1997. Each of the stories is a gem in its own right and the stories show the power and ambiguity of the Jewish tradition. Jews everywhere share an identity and with Stavans's' chronology as a guide, we get a taste of things Jewish. This is a book to be treasured and read over and over again.

A rich collection The great masters are here

This is a wonderful collection. The great masters of modern Jewish story-telling are represented here. I could quarrel with some of the selections, and would for instance prefer a different Bellow story. But there are also some of the great , great stories here including one of the masterpieces of the writer who I personally consider the greatest of all modern Jewish storytellers Isaac Bashevis Singer.The selection here is of one of his greatest stories, 'The Spinoza of Market Street.' Each of the fifty or so selections is briefly and competently introduced. A truly wonderful anthology.

I want this book to be read by my grandchildren.

I was given this anthology as a gift and I read it immediately. It is excellent! Stavans is continuing the work that Irving Howe began. I want my children and grandchildren to read it too.

One of the best anthologies I've ever come across

This is a book to cherish. I've given many copies to friends. It is one of the best anthologies, if not the best, I've ever come across. Stavans' introduction and chronology guide the reader intelligently through history and literature. A triumph!