Picture of author.

Isaac Bashevis Singer (1902–1991)

Author of The Collected Stories

350+ Works 20,276 Members 246 Reviews 75 Favorited

About the Author

Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904-91) was the author of many novels, stories, children's books, and memoirs. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978. (Publisher Provided) Isaac Bashevis Singer was born in Radzymin, Poland on July 14, 1904. He received a traditional Jewish education, including show more training at the rabbinical seminary in Warsaw. He began writing in Hebrew while he worked for 10 years as a proofreader and translator in Warsaw. In 1935, he immigrated to New York, where he became a journalist for the Daily Forward, America's largest Yiddish newspaper. Most of his stories were originally published in this newspaper in serial form. His first novel, The Family Moskat, was published in 1950. His other works include The Magician of Lublin, The Spinoza of Market Street, The Slave, and A Friend of Kafka. A Day of Pleasure: Stories of a Boy Growing Up in Warsaw won the National Book Award for children's literature. He received numerous awards during his lifetime including the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978 and the Gold Medal for Fiction in 1989. He died after suffering a series of strokes on July 24, 1991. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the names: Singer-I.B, Singer I.B., Isac BSnger, Issac Singer, Singer Isaac, Isaac Singer, Isaac Bashevis, ISAAC BASHEVIS, Salcia Landmann, Isaac B. Singer, Isaac B. Singer, Isaac B. Singer, Issac B. Singer, I.B.シンガー, Jitschok Bashevis, I.B. シンガー, I. Bashevis Singer, Isac Bashvis Singr, I. Bashevis Singer, Isaac Bash. SINGER, Isak Basevis Singer, Isaac Bashev Singer, Isaac Basheu Singer, Singer Isaac Bashev, Isaac Bashiv Singer, Singer B Isaac R2H2, Isaac Bashews Singer, SINGER ISAAC BASHEVI, Isaa Bashevis Singer, Issac Bahevis Singer, Isaac Bahevis Singer, Isak Baševis Singer, Bashevis Isaac Singer, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Isaac Bashevis Ainger, Isaac Basheivs Singer, Singer Isaac Bashevis, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Isaac Bashevis Zinger, Issac Bashevis Singer, Issac Basheris Singer, Issac Bachevis Singer, ISAAC BASHEVIS SINCER, Isaak Bashevis SINGER, Isaac Beshevis Singer, Isaac Bashavis Singer, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Singer Bashevis Isaac, Isaac Bashevie Singer, Issac Beshevis Singer, Isaac Bachevis Singer, Isaac Singer; Bashevis, ISAAC BASCHEVIS SINGER, Isaac Baschevis Singer, Isaac Bashevish Singer, Isaaac Bashevis Singer, Mr. Isaac Bashevis Singer, Singer Bashevis Isaac R2H1, introduced by Isaac Singer, יצחק בשביס-זינגר, יצחק בשביס זינגר, יצחק בשביס זינגר, יצחק בשויס זינגר, יצחק בשביס זינגר, יצחק בשביס זינגר, יצחק בשביס־זינגר, アイザック・B シンガー, アイザック・B. シンガー, intro Aesop / Isaac Bashevis Singer, יצחק באַשעװיס זינגער, יצחק באַשעװיס-זינגער, Ицхак Башевис Зингер, Исаак Бешевис Сингер, Исаак Башевис Зингер, Исаак Башевис Зингер, アイザック・バシェビス シンガー, pictures by margot Zemach Isaac Bashevis Singer, Polen Schriftsteller Singer, USA Isaac Bashevis, Leonard (translator) Isaac Bashevis; Wolf Singer, Illustrated by Maurice Send Isaac Bashevis Singer, Isaac Bashevis Singer; Illustrator-Irene Lieblich, Isaac Bashevis (Retold by) ; (translated by) Shub, Jose Isaac Bashevis; Translated by Sherman Singer, アイザック・バシェヴィス シンガー, Isaac Bashevis and Eric Carle (Illustrator) Singer, Isaac Bashevis Singer; (Illustrator) Leonard Evere, Isaac Bashevis Singer; Illustrator-Antonio Frascon

Image credit: Courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery (image use requires permission from the New York Public Library)

Series

Works by Isaac Bashevis Singer

The Collected Stories (1982) 1,054 copies
Shosha (1974) 1,018 copies
Enemies, A Love Story (1966) 993 copies
The Slave (1962) 955 copies
The Family Moskat (1950) 829 copies
The Magician of Lublin (1960) 827 copies
In My Father's Court (1956) 734 copies
Why Noah Chose the Dove (1973) 605 copies
Satan in Goray (1935) 599 copies
The Manor (1952) 558 copies
Shadows on the Hudson (1957) 552 copies
Stories for Children (1984) 465 copies
A Crown of Feathers (1974) 396 copies
The Penitent (1983) 384 copies
A Friend of Kafka (1962) 363 copies
The Estate (1952) 336 copies
Old Love (1966) 281 copies
Passions (1976) 280 copies
The Spinoza of Market Street (1961) 258 copies
Scum (1991) 246 copies
The King of the Fields (1988) 243 copies
Meshugah (1986) 238 copies
The Golem (1969) — Author — 237 copies
The Certificate (1992) 234 copies
Love and Exile (1984) 197 copies
The Image and Other Stories (1985) 174 copies
Yentl the Yeshiva Boy (1962) 165 copies
Lost in America (1981) 139 copies
Elijah the Slave (1970) 130 copies
The Fearsome Inn (1967) 104 copies
Yentl [1983 film] (1983) — Original story — 88 copies
The Parakeet Named Dreidel (2015) 75 copies
A Tale of Three Wishes (1975) 52 copies
Gimpel l'idiota (1979) 50 copies
The Destruction of Kreshev (1961) 49 copies
Alone in the Wild Forest (1971) 48 copies
Nobel Lecture (1979) 34 copies
The Wicked City (1972) 33 copies
The Hasidim (1973) 31 copies
Keyla la rossa (2017) 30 copies
Gifts (1985) 28 copies
Op zoek (1985) 24 copies
Familien Moskat. B.1 (1990) 16 copies
Isaac B. Singer, 1978 (1986) 12 copies
Le blasphemateur (1992) 12 copies
Die kleinen Schuhmacher (1996) 12 copies
Familien Moskat. B.2 (1990) 12 copies
La luna e la follia (1989) 11 copies
Racconti (1998) 11 copies
Der Fatalist: Erzählungen (1980) — Author — 10 copies
El seductor (2022) 10 copies
I due bugiardi (1957) 10 copies
Shosha e quattro racconti (1978) 9 copies
Ricerca e perdizione (1975) 8 copies
Cuentos (2018) 7 copies
Rencontre au sommet (1998) 6 copies
Teibele and her demon (1984) 6 copies
יארמה וקיילה (2011) 5 copies
Cuentos judíos (1989) 5 copies
Keile la Pèl-roja (2023) 4 copies
A hét kicsi suszter (1984) 4 copies
Le dernier démon (1979) 4 copies
Shammai Weitz (2022) 4 copies
Toplu Öyküler (2015) 4 copies
Madjionicar Iz Lublina (2004) 3 copies
Attesten (1993) 3 copies
Un giorno di felicità (2019) 3 copies
Der Geschichtenerzähler (1987) 3 copies
Contes (1985) 3 copies
Den usette : fortellinger (1976) 2 copies
Tajne kabale (2017) 2 copies
Aspects of I.B. Singer (1986) 2 copies
The Mirror 2 copies
The Parrot 2 copies
Great fairytales, part 5, Wisdom and folly (2009) — Contributor — 2 copies
The Black Wedding (2014) 2 copies
Zjawa (1993) 2 copies
Schiuma (1991) 2 copies
The manuscript 2 copies
Una ventana al mundo (2022) 2 copies
Pierdut în America (2007) 1 copy
La imagen 1 copy
השריד שנותר (2016) 1 copy
#Error 1 copy
No title 1 copy
No title 1 copy
Escoria 1 copy
Jewish Love Stories (1973) 1 copy
Der Fatalist 1 copy
Kal 1 copy
Golem 1 copy
Setrið 1 copy
Cuentos 1 copy
罠におちた男 (1995) 1 copy
EL MAGO DE LUBLIN (2019) 1 copy
Ole i Trufa 1 copy
Love & Exile 1 copy
Leidenschaften (1995) 1 copy
Samtal med Singer (1987) 1 copy
Ori 1 copy
Three Tales 1 copy
New York árnyai (1999) 1 copy
O Solar 1 copy
Contes jueus (1901) 1 copy
Hunger 1 copy
The Lecture 1 copy
Krótki piątek (1992) 1 copy
Retour rue Krochmalna (2022) 1 copy
Ništarija 1 copy
Hanka 1 copy
Vyvrhel (2004) 1 copy
Staré lásky (2003) 1 copy
Dědictví (2006) 1 copy
Pohádky a povídky (1995) 1 copy
O Escravo 1 copy

Associated Works

Hunger (1890) — Introduction, some editions — 4,665 copies
The Best American Short Stories of the Century (2000) — Contributor — 1,536 copies
Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (1995) — Contributor, some editions — 904 copies
The Oxford Book of American Short Stories (1992) — Contributor — 731 copies
Dark Forces (1980) — Contributor — 559 copies
The World of the Short Story: A 20th Century Collection (1986) — Contributor — 454 copies
American Gothic Tales (1996) — Contributor — 443 copies
The Oxford Book of Modern Fairy Tales (1993) — Contributor — 359 copies
Wonderful Town: New York Stories from The New Yorker (2000) — Contributor — 355 copies
A Treasury of Yiddish Stories (1958) — Contributor — 322 copies
Masterpieces of Fantasy and Wonder (1989) — Contributor — 321 copies
Witches & Warlocks: Tales of Black Magic, Old & New (1991) — Contributor — 280 copies
Writing New York: A Literary Anthology (1998) — Contributor — 274 copies
Devils & Demons: A Treasury of Fiendish Tales Old & New (1991) — Contributor — 254 copies
Great Jewish Short Stories (1963) — Author, some editions — 236 copies
Aesop's Fables Translated by George Fyler Townsend (1871) — Foreword, some editions — 207 copies
Nothing But You: Love Stories From The New Yorker (1997) — Contributor — 182 copies
10th Annual Edition: The Year's Best S-F (1965) — Contributor — 176 copies
Yoshe Kalb (1932) — Introduction, some editions — 176 copies
Black Water 2: More Tales of the Fantastic (1990) — Contributor — 152 copies
The Oxford Book of Jewish Stories (1998) — Contributor — 127 copies
The Jewish caravan : great stories of twenty-five centuries (1935) — Contributor, some editions — 124 copies
The Schocken Book of Contemporary Jewish Fiction (1992) — Contributor — 122 copies
Isaac Bashevis Singer: An Album (2004) — Contributor — 113 copies
American Fantastic Tales: Boxed Set (2009) — Contributor — 91 copies
Best Shorts: Favorite Stories for Sharing (2006) — Contributor — 89 copies
Neurotica: Jewish Writers on Sex (1999) — Contributor — 84 copies
Science Fiction: The Future (1971) — Contributor — 83 copies
The Literary Ghost: Great Contemporary Ghost Stories (1991) — Contributor — 74 copies
Great Esquire Fiction (1983) — Contributor — 70 copies
Demons! (1941) — Contributor — 70 copies
Reader's Digest Great Stories for Young Readers (1969) — Contributor — 66 copies
Dark: Stories of Madness, Murder and the Supernatural (2000) — Contributor — 56 copies
No Star Too Beautiful: A Treasury of Yiddish Stories (2002) — Contributor — 54 copies
The Arbor House Treasury of Mystery and Suspense (1981) — Contributor — 51 copies
The Jewish Writer (1998) — Contributor — 50 copies
The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story (2021) — Contributor — 44 copies
Celebrate Cricket: 30 Years of Stories and Art (2003) — Contributor — 43 copies
Spooky Stories for a Dark and Stormy Night (1945) — Contributor — 35 copies
Modern Jewish stories (1963) — Contributor — 35 copies
Tully Filmus: Selected Drawings (1971) — Contributor — 34 copies
The Vintage Book of Classic Crime (1993) — Contributor — 33 copies
The Best American Short Stories 1980 (1980) — Contributor — 32 copies
Escape: Stories of Getting Away (2002) — Contributor — 26 copies
13 Plays of Ghosts and the Supernatural (1990) — Contributor — 26 copies
The Best American Short Stories 1979 (1979) — Contributor — 24 copies
The Best American Short Stories 1970 (1970) — Contributor — 22 copies
Studies in Fiction (1965) — Contributor — 22 copies
The Best American Short Stories 1969 (1969) — Contributor — 21 copies
Enemies: A Love Story [1989 film] (2002) — Original book — 20 copies
Love Stories (1975) — Contributor — 18 copies
Wonders: Writings and Drawings for the Child in Us All (1980) — Contributor — 18 copies
Meesters der Jiddische vertelkunst (1959) — Contributor — 16 copies
The Best American Short Stories 1965 (1965) — Contributor — 16 copies
Nobel Writers on Writing (2000) — Contributor — 14 copies
Story to Anti-Story (1979) — Contributor — 13 copies
Visions and Imaginations: Classic Fantasy Fiction (2005) — Contributor — 13 copies
LUNA LUNA - Ermoglicht Von Neue Revue (1987) — Contributor — 13 copies
The Playboy Book of Short Stories (1995) — Contributor — 11 copies
Noonday 1: Stories, Articles, Poetry (1958) — Contributor — 8 copies
Best modern short stories (1965) — Contributor — 8 copies
Moderne joodse verhalen (1964) — Contributor — 7 copies
Phantastische Literatur 83 (1983) — Contributor, some editions — 7 copies
Het derde Testament : Joodse verhalen (1995) — Contributor, some editions — 6 copies
Cricket Magazine, Vol. 4, No. 4, December 1976 (1976) — Contributor — 4 copies
Cricket Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 2, October 1975 (1974) — Contributor — 4 copies
Short Fiction: Shape and Substance (1971) — Contributor — 3 copies
Other Nations: Animals in Modern Literature (2010) — Contributor — 3 copies
Enjoying Stories (1987) — Contributor — 2 copies

Tagged

20th century (290) American (183) American literature (333) anthology (1,232) children (163) children's (224) classic (190) classics (383) collection (143) fables (405) fairy tales (165) fantasy (322) fiction (4,458) folklore (214) folktales (151) horror (443) Isaac Bashevis Singer (353) Jewish (683) Jewish fiction (165) Jewish literature (364) Judaica (234) Judaism (343) Library of America (197) literature (1,126) Nobel Prize (252) Norway (144) novel (586) Poland (326) read (209) Roman (201) science fiction (184) short stories (2,253) stories (315) to-read (1,230) translation (143) unread (249) Yiddish (512) Yiddish literature (342) ♠♠♥♥♦♦• (172) (185)

Common Knowledge

Members

Discussions

THE DEEP ONES: "The Enemy" by Isaac Bashevis Singer in The Weird Tradition (March 2022)
Group Read, September 2020: The Magician of Lublin in 1001 Books to read before you die (October 2020)
Group tags in YIVO Encyclopedia (March 2012)
testcases - links with VIAF numbers in anchors in YIVO Encyclopedia (March 2012)
Welcome to this group! in YIVO Encyclopedia (March 2012)

Reviews

Clever story about the battle between good luck and bad luck for the upper hand in human affairs. Presented for children in paperback format with nifty illustrations by Margo Zemach.
 
Flagged
laytonwoman3rd | 2 other reviews | Oct 2, 2023 |
I appreciated these stories and was enlightened regarding different practices and meanings of ritual in Judaism. Many of the stories were quite similar. In some, women were respected, but in others they were presented as either villains or dismissed. The portrayal of immigrants was illuminating. I was impressed by the wealth of publications available in Yiddish.
 
Flagged
suesbooks | 4 other reviews | Aug 27, 2023 |
His first book and, of all the ones I’ve read by him, I’m sorry to say this one is easily the least impressive. Reading this when it came out, one would imagine he was a writer to watch, a writer with things to say, but this isn’t the book where he comes into his own. The story tells about the effects on a tiny, remote shtetl in Poland in the 17th century when a wave of hysteria over the claims of Sabbatai Zvi—claiming to be the messiah—were taken quite literally throughout parts of Eastern Europe. People begin to neglect or even invert their traditional religious practices and abandon their moral precepts--and soon even their daily lives--in preparation for the coming apocalypse when Zvi would lead them to salvation.I am Jewish and reasonably conversant with Jewish beliefs and liturgy and practices and although I understood many things, just as many were beyond me. I don’t know that such knowledge or familiarity is essential but this often was a difficult book for me, one that the “later” Singer, I think, would have written differently.… (more)
½
 
Flagged
Gypsy_Boy | 6 other reviews | Aug 25, 2023 |
A collection of very Jewish children's stories with illustrations by Maurice Sendak. The title and final story was the best. Young Aaron must take the old family goat, Zlateh, to the butcher's in the next town. They get caught in a blizzard and survive for 3 days inside a haystack. Aaron lives on the goat's milk and the goat of course lives off the hay. They return home after the storm, and the life-saving goat is then forever after welcome in the house and treated like a sibling. "Maaaa," is all she says. Yes, I loved her.… (more)
 
Flagged
Tytania | 15 other reviews | Jul 20, 2023 |

Lists

Awards

You May Also Like

Associated Authors

Elizabeth Shub Translator, Editor & Translator, Contributor
Alison Lurie Afterword, Contributor
Mirra Ginsburg Translator
Jack Rosenthal Screenwriter
Joseph Jacobs Contributor
Haruma Okada Editor & Introduction
Bartho Kriek Translator
Anna Zbierska Translator
Nili Wachtel Translator
Tomasz Kuberczyk Translator
Uri Shulevitz Illustrator
Eric Carle Illustrator
Martha Glicklich Translator
Uri Schulevitz Illustrator
Raphael Soyer Illustrator
Harry T. Moore Introduction
Pietari Posti Illustrator
Elaine Gottlieb Translator
Joseph Singer Translator
Elizabeth Pollet Translator
Bruno Fonzi Translator
Cecil Hemley Translator
Lucie Lucká Translator
Gertrud Baruch Translator
工藤 幸雄 Translator
Marion Magid Translator
Joop van Helmond Translator
Wulf Teichmann Translator
Aliza Shevrin Translator
Stella Bromet Translator
Salcia Landmann Afterword
Margot Zemach Illustrator
Nico Polak Translator
Krystyna Szerer Translator
Gisèle Bernier Traduction
Lucilia Filipe Translator
Larry Keith Narrator
A. H. Gross Translator
Martin Ros Afterword
Kurt Löb Illustrator
Rosanna Gerber Translator
Roman Vishniac Photographer
Rosanna Pela Translator
Isaac Rosenfeld Translator
Shlomo Katz Translator
Mira Rafalowicz Translator
Abe Igelfeld Narrator
Maurice Sendak Illustrator
Norbert Guterman Translator
Nancy Gross Translator
Saul Bellow Translator
Jan Skoumal Translator
Ulla Hengst Translator
Joseph Sloan Translator
Mea Flothuis Translator
Christa Schuenke Translator
Joseph Sherman Translator
Mario Biondi Translator
Antonín Přidal Translator
Miloš Urban Translator
Chana Faerstein Translator
Alma Singer Translator
Rachel MacKenzie Translator
Dorothea Straus Translator
Jet van der Mijn Translator
Mårten Edlund Translator
Andrés Bosch Translator
Gisèle Bernier Translator
A. Ritter Translator
Birgit Edlund Translator
Mark Penberthy Illustrator
June Ruth Flaum Translator
Roger H. Klein Translator
Joel Blocker Translator
A. Polak-Lubbers Translator
Arik Brauer Cover artist
Claus Seitz Cover designer
Aleš J. Novák Translator
Curt Leviant Translator
Caj Lundgren Translator
Jukka Kemppinen Translator
Hannelore Neves Translator
Harald Raykowski Translator
Julian Jusim Illustrator
Bruno Oddera Translator
Ruth Whitman Translator
Ellen Otten Translator
David Stromberg Translator
Rachel Salamander Glossary compiler
Georg Eisler Cover artist
John Stewart Illustrator

Statistics

Works
350
Also by
86
Members
20,276
Popularity
#1,069
Rating
3.9
Reviews
246
ISBNs
1,232
Languages
29
Favorited
75

Charts & Graphs