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Jewish Wry
Essays on Jewish Humor

Edited by Sarah Blacher Cohen 		When the Jews of Eastern Europe came to the United States in the 19th century, they brought with them their own special humor. Developed in response to the dissonant reality of their lives, their self-critical humor served as a source of salvation, enabling them to endure a painful history with a sense of power. In America, the marginal status of immigrant Jews prompted them to use humor a a defense, exaggerating or mocking their ethnicity as events dictated.
Jewish Wry examines the development of Jewish humor in a series of essays on topics that range from Sholom Aleichem's humor to Jewish comediennes through to the humor of Philip Roth. This important book offers enjoyable reading as well as a significant and scholarly contribution to the field.		 "This book will not only make you laugh; more significantly, it will make you think."—Jewish Currents

"[Jewish Wry] maintains its balance of fun and erudition both by thoughtful definitions of Jewish humor and by unique and compelling insights into its mechanisms and functions."—Journal of Jewish Studies

"Sarah Blacher Cohen . . . has done it again . . . This is an extraordinarily rich boo. It can be read and it can be studied. In its way it is a classic pillar of the Jewish experience in America."—Shofar
 
Humor in Life and Letters Series

$21.95s paper / ISBN 0-8143-2366-9

244 pages

1987 (Originally published by Indiana University Press)