Encyclopedia of Jewish American Popular Culture

(Hardback)

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Description

This unique encyclopedia chronicles American Jewish popular culture, past and present in music, art, food, religion, literature, and more. Over 150 entries, written by scholars in the field, highlight topics ranging from animation and comics to Hollywood and pop psychology. Without the profound contributions of American Jews, the popular culture we know today would not exist. Where would music be without the music of Bob Dylan and Barbra Streisand, humor without Judd Apatow and Jerry Seinfeld, film without Steven Spielberg, literature without Phillip Roth, Broadway without Rodgers and Hammerstein These are just a few of the artists who broke new ground and changed the face of American popular culture forever. This unique encyclopedia chronicles American Jewish popular culture, past and present in music, art, food, religion, literature, and more. Over 150 entries, written by scholars in the field, highlight topics ranging from animation and comics to Hollywood and pop psychology. Up-to-date coverage and extensive attention to political and social contexts make this encyclopedia is an excellent resource for high school and college students interested in the full range of Jewish popular culture in the United States. Academic and public libraries will also treasure this work as an incomparable guide to our nation's heritage. Illustrations complement the text throughout, and many entries cite works for further reading. The volume closes with a selected, general bibliography of print and electronic sources to encourage further research.

Reviews

From Bella Abzug to Henny Youngman, Fischel (emeritus, Millersville U., PA) has compiled some 250 cross-referenced entries attesting to the substantial contribution made by Jews to popular culture in the US despite constituting a tiny percentage of the population. Following an introduction that addresses the issue of 'who is a Jew,' coverage includes biographical sketches of secular and religious personalities plus essays on topics such as the place of Yiddish culture and the Holocaust in American culture. The volume includes a list of entries, guide to related topics (from the arts and business mangers to the women's movement and Yiddish), further reading, and photos. Contributors include scholars from diverse fields, other writers, and clergy. * Reference & Research Book News *
As a student of Jewish American popular culture, I was most impressed by those entries that are models of distillation and authoritativeness. Jon Stratton on the "Jewish Brill Building," the famous Broadway landmark where pop music composers in their youthlike Carole King (n Klein), Neal Sedaka, and numerous othersworked, is superb, as is the entry on Jewish comedy by Mark Shechner. From such wonderful juxtapositions, which fill this impressive reference book, an attentive reader can appreciate the myriad figures and zones of popular culture shaped by Jewish Americans over the past one hundred years. * Jewish Book World *
This encyclopedia's strengths are its simple, direct organization combined with easy usability. The entries, written by respected authors, are lively and readable. An extensive bibliography and index facilitate access. Best suited as a student reference source, this volume covers a wide array of mostly contemporary topics, personalities, and events. The entries vary in depth and quality (Richard Gould's essay on jazz and blues is a tour de force), though each presents some tidbit or flavor of the 'Jewish' context of the subject. . . . Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-level undergraduates; general readers. * Choice *
This is a topical guide to literature, politics and Yiddish theater---and so much more. * Hadassah Magazine *

Author Bio

Jack Fischel is Emeritus Professor of History at Millersville University. He has authored and edited numerous publications, including The Holocaust (Greenwood Press, 1992), Jewish-American History and Culture: An Encyclopedia, (1992), and The Religious Implications of the Holocaust (Greenwood Press, 2002).