Contemporary Jewish-American Dramatists and Poets: A Bio-Critical Sourcebook

(Hardback)

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Jewish-American poetry and drama play an important role in contemporary American culture. These writings also reflect an enormous diversity of perspectives. Some poets, such as Allen Ginsberg, have attained fame and a large audience, while others have been recognized chiefly by scholars. Poets such as Howard Nemerov are more conservative, others such as Kenneth Koch are experimental, and still others, such as Ginsberg, are prophetic. Similarly, some Jewish-American playwrights, especially Arthur Miller, have acquired a worldwide following, while others continue to labor in obscurity. The spectrum of Jewish-American drama encompasses the liberated Jewish women of Wendy Wasserstein and Emily Mann, the gay Jewish persons who come out of the closet in the plays of Harvey Fierstein, and the satires of Arthur Kopit and Woody Allen. The rich experiences of Jewish-American drama and poetry are captured in this authoritative reference work. The volume includes alphabetically arranged entries for more than 70 contemporary Jewish-American dramatists and poets, such as Paddy Chayevsky, Sarah Blacher Cohen, Allen Ginsberg, John Hollander, Barbara Lebow, Denise Levertov, Allen Mandelbaum, David Mamet, and Arthur Miller. Each entry includes a brief biography, a discussion of major works and themes, an overview of the critical reception of the author's writings, and a bibliography of primary and secondary sources. The first part of the book includes entries for dramatists, while the second covers poets. Each part is introduced by a short overview essay, and the volume closes with selected, general bibliographies.

Reviews

"Contemporary Jewish-American Dramatists and Poets, edited by Joel Shatzky and Michael Taub, is an exceedingly useful resource for those trying to understand dramatists and poets, individually and in relation to each other....[T]his is a reference text that will stand for many years to come."-Resources for American Literary Study
A useful resource for readers seeking to understand and appreciate in some detail the lives and work of one realm of comtemporary, creative artists in relation to another....this volume goes a long way towards illuminating the achievements of Jewish-American writers....Readers will now have access to a reference text that positions Jewish-American dramatists and poets side-by-side, opening up the possibility for fertile, surprising connections, and discovering new questions. This, too, is a gift.-Reviews, Cindy Rosenthal Hofstra University
Contemporary Jewish-American Dramatists and Poets, edited by Joel Shatzky and Michael Taub, is an exceedingly useful resource for those trying to understand dramatists and poets, individually and in relation to each other....[T]his is a reference text that will stand for many years to come.-Resources for American Literary Study
Joel Shatzky and Michael Taub...demonstrate the rich diversity of a multitude of writers in two genres....All of the selections in both the Dramatic and Poetry sections are invaluable....Shatzky and Taub have produced truly encyclopedic works, both of which are clearly organized, easily accessible and introduces by important literary critics. The significance of Contemporary Jewish-American Dramatists and Poets...cannot be overestimated.-Jewish Currents
"Joel Shatzky and Michael Taub...demonstrate the rich diversity of a multitude of writers in two genres....All of the selections in both the Dramatic and Poetry sections are invaluable....Shatzky and Taub have produced truly encyclopedic works, both of which are clearly organized, easily accessible and introduces by important literary critics. The significance of Contemporary Jewish-American Dramatists and Poets...cannot be overestimated."-Jewish Currents
"A useful resource for readers seeking to understand and appreciate in some detail the lives and work of one realm of comtemporary, creative artists in relation to another....this volume goes a long way towards illuminating the achievements of Jewish-American writers....Readers will now have access to a reference text that positions Jewish-American dramatists and poets side-by-side, opening up the possibility for fertile, surprising connections, and discovering new questions. This, too, is a gift."-Reviews, Cindy Rosenthal Hofstra University

Author Bio

JOEL SHATZKY is Professor of English at Cortland College of the State University of New York. He has published widely in the field of Jewish Studies in such journals as Studies in Jewish American Literature, Jewish Frontier, and Jewish Currents, and has coedited, with Michael Taub, Contemporary Jewish-American Novelists: A Bio-Critical Sourcebook (Greenwood, 1997). MICHAEL TAUB was formerly Associate Professor of Judaic Studies at Binghamton University of the State University of New York and Visiting Professor at Vassar College. He is the author of many works on Jewish Studies and a translator of Israeli drama into English. With Joel Shatzky, he coedited Contemporary Jewish-American Novelists: A Bio-Critical Sourcebook (Greenwood, 1997).