In the wake of a nasty breakup, I read this book. I have learned so much--it was a wonderufl synthesis of ideas which had been, without my knowledge, conditioning my lousy relationship!

SINGER IN THE SHADOWS is a most current account of the life of Pearl Curran, a woman living in St. Louis during the first part of the 20th century who channelled, originally through a Ouija board, the spirit of a 17th century woman named Patience Worth. The story of Pearl Curran and Patience Worth is an enigma, not easily explanable without an acceptance of spiritism or reincarnation. The case of Patience Worth and the poems, novels and conversations she left behind provide perhaps the best rock hard evidence of life after death. Mr. Litvag writes an easily readable comprehensive overview of this strange case begining in 1913 when Patience Worth first appeared at Pearl Curran's Ouija board and continuing through 1937 when Pearl Curran died. Perhaps the time is more appropriate now in the 21st century for the reissue of this classic book than when it was first published in 1972. Patience Worth's work requires serious attention by scientists, writers and spiritists alike. It would be a great loss to allow the writings of Patience Worth to fade over time. Anyone wishing to become informed about the evidence of life after death should start with this book by Irving Litvag. After reading Mr. Litvag's book one may find an irresistable urge to read every poem, novel and conversation that Patience Worth wrote. She's that good!

I.J. Singer's work is a large-scale novel, with a multitude of characters and plots, the first attempt of a Yiddish writer to break away from the traditional short fiction depicting life in the shtelt. It is the result of exposure to European literature late in the 19th century, and reflects the dilemma of Jewish milieu torn apart from its traditional roots and having to face the rise of capitalism and communism. The main character, Max Ashkenazi is despicable by all means, obsessed by money and power, with a Machiavellian mind, and despite all his success has a sad end in life. Considering the conflicting time in which the novel takes place (first four decades of the 20th century), the main plot reflects the author's pessimistic and skeptic view of the place the Jew might have in modern society: be it amongst the capitalists or the communists, the Jew will always be misplaced and will never loose his stigma as scapegoat in times of trouble. The reader familiar with wthe work of Joshua's younger brother (Isaac Bashevis Singer) will certainly realize that the brothers share little in terms of literary production, each one with his own merits, albeit I.B. Singer surpasses in magnitude and depth.

The story begins at the beginning, prior to the nearly simultaneous birth of two brothers. Not quite Cain and Abel, the brothers grow apart and together, mixing people,places,positions. With verve and breadth, it tells how each individual becomes his own choices, with the help and the hindrance of the Jewish community in Poland in the early 20th century. What a story!

This book is an amazing piece of work. You can really see the struggles that the Jewish population in Poland had to endure in the decades before WWII. Some of the characters are truly detestable at, other times they are to be pitied. All in all, a very tragic book.

Maybe it was my fault . . . I read this book for some answers: about what love was, how it functioned, what it meant in our world. Singer's main thesis seems to be that love is a 'search for meaning' but this theory is never really elucidated - why do we need to search for meaning? How does love function to provide 'meaning'? Why 'love' as our major meaningful activity, rather than - sport? reading? collecting coins? Singer never seems to explain these things. Singer spends considerable time exploring possibilities, and examining competing theories for a particular facet of the experience of love. All too often, these enquiries conclude with, 'Oh well, it's all a grand mystery' or 'That's what makes us human after all.' Grrr! Having noted what made me cross and bothered when reading this book, I must say that Singer did have some interesting observations. I liked his idea that there was no such thing as 'love at first sight.' He explains that the person we fall for this way is one final choice in a series of hundreds of thousands of choices in our lives which simply make the person 'appear' to be instantly 'the one.' He also talks about why 'love' as a pursuit today is increasingly unfashionable, and his discussion of this did make me think. This book is not without value, but there is a lot of 'waffle' and aimlessness in it, some copping out of the tough questions, some failure to fully explain ideas, and a few old-fashioned values and comments. Mildly interesting, but not at all comprehensive.