Outwitting history : the amazing adventures of a man who rescued a million Yiddish books / by Aaron Lansky.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lansky, Aaron, 1955-

Contributor:

The Library of Chaim Potok (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Lansky, Aaron, 1955-.

Lansky, Aaron.

National Yiddish Book Center (U.S.)--History.

National Yiddish Book Center (U.S.).

Book collecting.

Yiddish imprints.

Language revival.

Yiddish language--Revival.

Yiddish language.

History.

Penn Provenance:

Potok, Adena (donor) (Potok Collection copy)

Physical Description:

xii, 316 pages, 8 unnumbered pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

[First paperback edition].

Place of Publication:

[New York, NY] : Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill [a division of Workman Publishing], [2005]

Summary:

As a twenty-three-year-old graduate student, Aaron Lansky set out to save the world's abandoned Yiddish books before it was too late. Today, twenty-five years and one and a half million books later, he has accomplished what has been called "the greatest cultural rescue effort in Jewish history." In Outwitting History, Lansky shares his adventures as well as the poignant and often laugh-out-loud stories he heard as he traveled the country collecting books. Introducing us to a dazzling array of writers, he shows us how an almost-lost culture is the bridge between the old world and the future-and how the written word can unite everyone who believes in the power of great literature.

Contents:

Part One: Learning Yiddish

Part Two: On the Road

Part Three: "Him I don't talk to!"

Part Four: Ganvenen dem Grenets - Crossing the Border

Part Five: Bringing it all back home.

Notes:

"Originally published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill in 2004. First paperback edition, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, September 2005."

"Design by Anne Winslow."

Contains "A Reading and Discussion Guide prepared by the Massachusetts Center for the Book" (4 pages) at end.

The Massachusetts Book Award Winner in Nonfiction for 2005; Library Journal Best Book of 2004; ALA Notable Book.

Local Notes:

Potok Collection copy presented to the Penn Libraries by Adena Potok.

ISBN:

9781565125131

1565125134

OCLC:

1054080880