Outwitting history
Subtitle: the amazing adventures of a man who rescued a million Yiddish books
By: by Aaron Lansky.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill; Algonquin Books
Published: 2004
Place of publication: Chapel Hill, N.C
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 316
ISBN-13: 9781565124295
Subjects: Lansky, Aaron, 1955-; National Yiddish Book Center (U.S.) -- History; Book collecting; Yiddish imprints; Language revival; Yiddish language -- Revival
Description: "In 1980, a twenty-three-year-old student named Aaron Lansky set out to rescue the world's abandoned Yiddish books before it was too late. Precious volumes that had survived Hitler and Stalin were being passed down from older generations of Jewish immigrants to their non-Yiddish-speaking children - only to be thrown away or destroyed. With little more than his own chutzpah, Lansky issued a worldwide appeal for unwanted Yiddish books, and the response was overwhelming." "Outwitting History is an adventure tale filled with unforgettable characters and told with the exuberance of a man whose passion led him from house to house, country to country, collecting treasured books and heartfelt, often hilarious stores of the vibrant intellectual world these older Jews inhabited. Lansky and a team of young volunteers crisscrossed America, shlepping books from attics and basements, demolition sites and dumpsters, while shmoozing with their owners, who insisted on feeding them a little nosh - gefilte fish, kasha, blintzes, latkes, kugel - before handing over, one book at a time, their beloved literary heritage." "When Lansky started out, experts believed that fewer than 70,000 Yiddish-language books still existed. Twenty-five years and 1.5 million books later, the organization Lansky founded, the National Yiddish Book Center, is one of the largest and fastest-growing Jewish cultural groups in the world. As he takes us along on his journey, Lansky explores the roots of the Yiddish language and introduces us to the Yiddish writers - from Mendele to Sholem Aleichem to I. B. Singer - whose lasting cultural relevance is evident on every page."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [313]-316).
Table of contents: title: Part one : Learning Yiddish.; title: Out of the dumpster; title: Bread and wine; title: "Come back after Yontef!"; title: "What is Mendele doing in a fruit basket on the floor?"; title: Part two : On the road.; title: A ritual of cultural transmission; title: "Don't you know that Yiddish is dead?"; title: A day in the life; title: A brief history of Yiddish literature; title: "People are dying today who never died before"; title: "Pretty soon we'll have a whole forest in Israel and no more members here"; title: "Love and peace"; title: "Ostroff! Sea gate!"; title: The great Newark book heist; title: Part three : "Him I don't talk to!"; title: "You're a liar!"; title: "They're tearing apart the library"; title: A ghost in the attic; title: "If not higher"; title: "Hitler's fault"; title: Part four : Ganvenen dem grenets : crossing the border.; title: Squandered at the Concord; title: Kaddish; title: A job for the young; title: The four corners of the earth; title: Back in the U.S.S.R.; title: Part five : Bringing it all back home.; title: Der oylem redt : the world takes notice; title: A home of our own; title: Immortality; title: The valise at the bottom of the sea