Born to Kvetch LP
Born to Kvetch LP by Michael Wex is a Large Print Edition published by Harper Collins on November 20, 2007. This book offers an engaging exploration of the Yiddish language, delving into the culture it embodies and the art of complaint that has characterized Jewish expression throughout history. Wex presents Yiddish as a vibrant and expressive language, rich in idioms and phrases that reflect the experiences of Jews over a millennium of challenges.
Readers will find a mix of humor and scholarship as Wex examines various aspects of Yiddish, including its curse words, culinary terms, and expressions related to life and death. The narrative traverses a wide range of topics, from historical figures like Sholem Aleichem to modern cultural references, showcasing the language’s complexity and durability. This edition, spanning 456 pages, invites readers to appreciate the unique interplay between language, sociology, and folklore within the Yiddish-speaking community.
Official synopsis Publisher
A delightful excursion through the Yiddish language, the culture it defines and serves, and the fine art of complaint
Throughout history, Jews around the world have had plenty of reasons to lament. And for a thousand years, they’ve had the perfect language for it. Rich in color, expressiveness, and complexity, Yiddish has proven incredibly useful and durable. Its wonderful phrases and idioms impeccably reflect the mind-set that has enabled the Jews of Europe to survive a millennium of unrelenting persecution . . . and enables them to kvetch about it!
Michael Wex—professor, scholar, translator, novelist, and performer—takes a serious yet unceasingly fun and funny look at this remarkable kvetch-full tongue that has both shaped and has been shaped by those who speak it. Featuring chapters on curse words, food, sex, and even death, he allows his lively wit and scholarship to roam freely from Sholem Aleichem to Chaucer to Elvis.
Perhaps only a khokhem be-layle (a fool, literally a “sage at night,” when there’s no one around to see) would care to pass up this endearing and enriching treasure trove of linguistics, sociology, history, and folklore—an intriguing appreciation of a unique and enduring language and an equally fascinating culture.
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