Old Truths and New Clichés: Essays by Isaac Bashevis Singer

by Isaac Bashevis Singer

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From the Nobel Prize-winning writer, a new collection of literary and personal essays Old Truths and New Clichés collects nineteen essays--most of them previously unpublished in English--by Isaac Bashevis Singer on topics that were central to his artistic vision throughout an astonishing and prolific literary career spanning more than six decades. Expanding on themes reflected in his best-known work--including the literary arts, Yiddish and Jewish life, and mysticism and philosophy--the show more book illuminates in new ways the rich intellectual, aesthetic, religious, and biographical background of Singer's singular achievement as the first Yiddish-language author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Like a modern Montaigne, Singer studied human nature and created a body of work that contributed to a deeper understanding of the human spirit. Much of his philosophical thought was funneled into his stories. Yet these essays, which Singer himself translated into English or oversaw the translation of, present his ideas in a new way, as universal reflections on the role of the artist in modern society. The unpublished essays featured here include "Old Truths and New Clichés," "The Kabbalah and Modern Times," and "A Trip to the Circus." Old Truths and New Clichés brims with stunning archival finds that will make a significant impact on how readers understand Singer and his work. Singer's critical essays have long been overlooked because he has been thought of almost exclusively as a storyteller. This book offers an important correction to the record by further establishing Singer as a formidable intellectual. show less

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380+ Works 23,903 Members
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 training at the rabbinical seminary in Warsaw. He show more 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

Classifications

Genre
Fiction and Literature
DDC/MDS
839.143Literature & rhetoricGerman & related literaturesOther Germanic literaturesYiddish literatureEssays
LCC
PJ5129.S49 O43Language and LiteratureOriental languages and literaturesOriental philology and literatureHebrewOther languages used by JewsYiddish
BISAC

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Paper
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