{"product_id":"the-jews-that-i-knew-ed-schwartz-9781500150761","title":"The Jews That I Knew: Voices From the Invisible Ghetto","description":"\u003cp\u003eEd Schwartz grew up in the \"borscht belt,\" an area of primarily Jewish-run hotels in the Catskill Mountains of New York. He never experienced Europe and Russia's anti-Semitic programs directly and was spared the horrors of the Holocaust. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDespite this, these terrible crimes influenced Schwartz's life, along with those of many American Jews, even as they struggled to reconcile the old world Yiddishkeit, or Yiddish world, with their new identities as Americans. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAnxious to be seen as \"real\" Americans, first generation Jews consciously distanced themselves from the Yiddishkeit. The second generation, born in America, found themselves torn between two worlds, not \"Jewish\" in an old-world sense, but with ingrained cultural differences distancing them from their fellow Americans. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Jews that I Knew\u003c\/i\u003e, Schwartz deftly merges prose and poetry to explore how Yiddish culture dissolved into American life, its effect on first- and second-generation American Jews, and its continuing influence even after the world of their fathers effectively ceased to exist. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAt once solemn and comic, uplifting and mournful, Schwartz's collected writings blend humor and deep sadness much like how traditional klezmer (Jewish) music underscores even gayety with a sob. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Ed Schwartz\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1500150762\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781500150761\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Createspace Independent Publishing Platform\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/19\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 108\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.34lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.02h x 5.98w x 0.22d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/0001","brand":"Ed Schwartz","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43935126257919,"sku":"9781500150761","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_5f922f27-bd78-4c9c-805c-f15bf218306c.jpg?v=1681418004","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-jews-that-i-knew-ed-schwartz-9781500150761","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}