You Never Call! You Never Write!: A History of the Jewish Mother

By Joyce Antler

Book Overview

In You Never Call, You Never Write, Joyce Antler provides an illuminating and often amusing history of one of the best-known figures in popular culture--the Jewish Mother. Whether drawn as self-sacrificing or manipulative, in countless films, novels, radio and television programs, stand-up comedy, and psychological and historical studies, she appears as a colossal figure, intensely involved in the lives of her children.
Antler traces the odyssey of this compelling personality through decades of American culture. She reminds us of a time when Jewish mothers were admired for their tenacity and nurturance, as in the early twentieth-century image of the "Yiddishe Mama," a sentimental figure popularized by entertainers such as George Jessel, Al Jolson, and Sophie Tucker, and especially by Gertrude Berg, whose amazingly successful "Molly Goldberg" ruled American radio and television for over 25 years. Antler explains the transformation of this Jewish Mother into a "brassy-voiced, smothering, and shrewish" scourge (in Irving Howe's words), detailing many variations on this negative theme, from Philip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint and Woody Allen's Oedipus Wrecks to television shows such as "The Nanny," "Seinfeld," and "Will and Grace." But she also uncovers a new counter-narrative, leading feminist scholars and stand-up comediennes to see the Jewish Mother in positive terms. Continually revised and reinvented, the Jewish Mother becomes in Antler's expert hands a unique lens with which to examine vital concerns of American Jews and the culture at large.
A joy to read, You Never Call, You Never Write will delight anyone who has ever known or been nurtured by a "Jewish Mother," and it will be a special source of insight for modern parents. As Antler suggests, in many ways "we are all Jewish Mothers" today.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195147871
• ISBN13: 9780195147872
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

You Never Call! You Never Write

This book was written by Joyce Antler, a professor at Brandeis University. The Women's Committee of Brandeis (BUNWC)instituted a study group program based on books, research, etc. by professors which included a syllabus to accompany their books, research, etc. As a former president of BUNWC, I can attest to the importance and popularity of this program. The subjects offered are always on the mark. This one, in particular, hit the jugular vein! "The History of the Jewish Mother" transcends the history of most American, immigrant mothers. This is a wonderful book for a book club. Through the study guide, questions are posed that relate to each chapter. The book, in itself, brings back many memories. The study guide keeps the group on track. ONE CAVEAT. Although the book alone is very good, you must be a member of BUNWC to be eligible to buy the study guide.

wonderful, heart-warming book

Reading this book will be a nostalgic trip down memory lane; the book is full of funny and charming anecdotes and recaps of classic humor routines and shows of past generations. A great book that gives you the really lively, hilarious, often shocking, sometimes bawdy history of how the Jewish Mother has been portrayed in movies, books, sitcoms, etc. But then the author contrasts that negative image with accounts of real Jewish mothers and women, who are strong, spunky, and loving. The perfect gift book; I confess I've already given copies to my mom and 4 aunts!