Outwitting History
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Outwitting History by Aaron Lansky
"Incredible . . . Inspiring . . . Important." --Library Journal, starred review
"A marvelous yarn, loaded with near-calamitous adventures and characters as memorable as Singer creations." --The New York Post
"What began as a quixotic journey was also a picaresque romp, a detective story, a profound history lesson, and a poignant evocation of a bygone world." --The Boston Globe
"Every now and again a book with near-universal appeal comes along: Outwitting History is just such a book." --The Sunday Oregonian
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, more than a 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.
A Library Journal Best Book
A Massachusetts Book Award Winner in Nonfiction
An ALA Notable Book
"A marvelous yarn, loaded with near-calamitous adventures and characters as memorable as Singer creations." --The New York Post
"What began as a quixotic journey was also a picaresque romp, a detective story, a profound history lesson, and a poignant evocation of a bygone world." --The Boston Globe
"Every now and again a book with near-universal appeal comes along: Outwitting History is just such a book." --The Sunday Oregonian
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, more than a 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.
A Library Journal Best Book
A Massachusetts Book Award Winner in Nonfiction
An ALA Notable Book
Aaron Lansky is the founder and president of the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts (www.yiddishbookcenter.org). He has aided the resurgence of Jewish literature in this country as a recipient of a MacArthur genius grant. He resides in western Massachusetts with his family.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781565125131 |
| ISBN 10 | 1565125134 |
| Title | Outwitting History |
| Author | Aaron Lansky |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Algonquin Books |
| Year published | 2005-09-02 |
| Number of pages | 328 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |