In the Catskills: A Century of Jewish Experience in "The Mountains"
“A nostalgic pastiche of fiction, memoir, photography, art, postcards, menus, etc., celebrating Jewish resort life in the Catskills.”—Providence Journal
 
With selections ranging from literature to song lyrics, this book highlights the Catskills experience over a century, and assesses its continuing impact on American music, comedy, food, culture, and religion. It features selections from such fiction writers as Isaac Bashevis Singer, Herman Wouk, Allegra Goodman and Vivian Gornick; and original contributions from historians, sociologists, and scholars of American and Jewish culture that trace the history of the region, the rise of hotels and bungalow colonies, the wonderful flavors of food and entertainment, and distinctive forms of Jewish religion found in the Mountains.

What was life—the work, the play, the food, the romance—like at Catskills Mountains resorts? These very personal recollections capture the special sense of community and freedom that developed among Jewish families leaving the city behind for a summer vacation and enjoying a cultural space of their own. From “Bingo by the Bungalow” by Thane Rosenbaum to “Young Workers in the Hotels” by Phil Brown to “Shoot the Shtrudel to Me Yudel” by Henry Foner, this charming anthology captures an era that has had enormous impact on the Jewish experience and American culture as a whole.

“A warm, charming, and valuable work. Much of the writing is simply gorgeous.”—Contemporary Sociology
"1111560148"
In the Catskills: A Century of Jewish Experience in "The Mountains"
“A nostalgic pastiche of fiction, memoir, photography, art, postcards, menus, etc., celebrating Jewish resort life in the Catskills.”—Providence Journal
 
With selections ranging from literature to song lyrics, this book highlights the Catskills experience over a century, and assesses its continuing impact on American music, comedy, food, culture, and religion. It features selections from such fiction writers as Isaac Bashevis Singer, Herman Wouk, Allegra Goodman and Vivian Gornick; and original contributions from historians, sociologists, and scholars of American and Jewish culture that trace the history of the region, the rise of hotels and bungalow colonies, the wonderful flavors of food and entertainment, and distinctive forms of Jewish religion found in the Mountains.

What was life—the work, the play, the food, the romance—like at Catskills Mountains resorts? These very personal recollections capture the special sense of community and freedom that developed among Jewish families leaving the city behind for a summer vacation and enjoying a cultural space of their own. From “Bingo by the Bungalow” by Thane Rosenbaum to “Young Workers in the Hotels” by Phil Brown to “Shoot the Shtrudel to Me Yudel” by Henry Foner, this charming anthology captures an era that has had enormous impact on the Jewish experience and American culture as a whole.

“A warm, charming, and valuable work. Much of the writing is simply gorgeous.”—Contemporary Sociology
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In the Catskills: A Century of Jewish Experience in "The Mountains"

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In the Catskills: A Century of Jewish Experience in "The Mountains"

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Overview

“A nostalgic pastiche of fiction, memoir, photography, art, postcards, menus, etc., celebrating Jewish resort life in the Catskills.”—Providence Journal
 
With selections ranging from literature to song lyrics, this book highlights the Catskills experience over a century, and assesses its continuing impact on American music, comedy, food, culture, and religion. It features selections from such fiction writers as Isaac Bashevis Singer, Herman Wouk, Allegra Goodman and Vivian Gornick; and original contributions from historians, sociologists, and scholars of American and Jewish culture that trace the history of the region, the rise of hotels and bungalow colonies, the wonderful flavors of food and entertainment, and distinctive forms of Jewish religion found in the Mountains.

What was life—the work, the play, the food, the romance—like at Catskills Mountains resorts? These very personal recollections capture the special sense of community and freedom that developed among Jewish families leaving the city behind for a summer vacation and enjoying a cultural space of their own. From “Bingo by the Bungalow” by Thane Rosenbaum to “Young Workers in the Hotels” by Phil Brown to “Shoot the Shtrudel to Me Yudel” by Henry Foner, this charming anthology captures an era that has had enormous impact on the Jewish experience and American culture as a whole.

“A warm, charming, and valuable work. Much of the writing is simply gorgeous.”—Contemporary Sociology

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780231504409
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Publication date: 07/15/2020
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 436
Lexile: 1110L (what's this?)
File size: 17 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Phil Brown is a professor of sociology and environmental studies at Brown University. He is co-founder and President of the Catskills Institute (a historical preservation society) and author of Catskill Culture: A Mountain Rat's Memories of the Great Jewish Resort Area.

Table of Contents

Introduction, by Phil Brown
Part 1: History
Jewish Farmers of the Catskills, by Abraham Lavender and Clarence Steinberg
Hotels and the Holocaust, by Reuben Wallenrod
The Catskills at the End of World War II, by Martin Boris
Part 2: Boarding House, Bungalow, and Kuchalayn Life
The Yearning Heifer, by Isaac Bashevis Singer
Grine Felder--A Place in the Country, by Martin Boris
Bingo by the Bungalow, by Thane Rosenbaum
Bungalow Colony Life, by Irwin Richman
Part 3: Hotel Life
Dinner at the Rigi Kulm House, by Abraham Cahan
Old Stock, by Hortense Calisher
Young Workers in the Hotels, by Phil Brown
The Pool, by Eileen Pollack
Growing Up at Grossinger's, by Tania Grossinger
Reflections on the Delmar Hotel and the Demise of the Catskills, by Jerry A. Jacobs
Part 4: Entertainment
Comics, Singers, and Tummlers, by Joey Adams (with Henry Tobias)
The Social Director in the Adult Summer Camp, by Moss Hart
The Casino, by Harvey Jacobs
The Fine art of Mountain Tummling, by Joyce Wadler
Shoot the Shtrudel to me Yudel--music and lyrics, by Henry Foner
Part 5: Romance
Miss Tevkin, by Abraham Cahan
Forbidden Fruit, by Harvey Jacobs
Amy Lourie, by Terry Kay
Part 6: Religion
Bungalow Summer, by Robert Eisenberg
The Shul in Kaaterskill Falls, by Allegra Goodman
Food
Eating at the Hotel, by Sarah Sandberg
The Catskills Remembered, by Vivian Gornick
Bungalow, by Elizabeth Ehrlich

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