Thanks to my grandparents, who came to America in the first decade of the 20th century, I grew up and have had a good life. Thanks to my grandparents, I didn't become a piece of ash or a few tossed out bones in an Eastern European field at the age of 2. Wars are wars; they've occured throughout human history, but in most of them, whole civilizations didn't disappear. But the Eastern European Jewish world is gone forever. I might belong to the same gene pool, but compared to the characters in Isaac Bashevis Singer's stories, I'm as American as apple pie. Irish-Americans can discover their roots in Ireland, Chinese-Americans in China, and so on, but not me. My cultural roots are gone forever. The only way I can learn them is through reading literature written by Singer, Shalom Aleichem, Isaac Babel and others who describe that vanished world. So, obviously, my interest and pleasure in reading such wonderful tales as appear in THE SEANCE and OTHER STORIES is all the more. Never mind my personal reasons. These amazing stories, by a Nobel Prize winner, will stay with you for a long time. The strange, sad characters afflicted by poverty and by life, bring us face to face with common human personalities of all times and places, while also depicting the conditions and peculiar relationships of Jews in Poland too. Magic, religion, animals, thieves, rabbis, prostitutes, mystics, Holocaust survivors, Talmudic scholars, prisoners, books, butchers and shopkeepers crowd the pages. In each story, you find pathos and tragedy, happiness and satisfaction, tensions and transformations. Two of the stories, "The Seance" and "The Letter Writer" must rank with the best stories I have ever read; none of the others are bad. If you have never read Singer, this is an excellent book to start with. If you have, you know what I am talking about. This is the great writer at the top of his form.

Isaac Bashevis Singer was no doubt one of the greatest short story writers - ever! The various collections in the end also earned him a very well deserved Nobel Prize for literature in 1978. Several of his stories were first published in magazines like The New Yorker, Encounter and Playboy. The first collection I read was Passions and Other Stories, which immediately made me realise what a master Isaac Bashevis Singer was. Later I have read several of his novels and short stories, where especially the collections Gimpel the Fool, Short Friday and The Seance are at least as good as Passions. All a magnificent world of Isaac Bashevis Singer's saints and sinners. Sad, funny, ironic, poignant and seeming to come from Singer's pen without any efforts. This is what good short stories is all about!

Wonderfully written and translated collection of stories, for both adults and children. Written of a boy growing up in pre-war Poland, it gives a taste of the life of the time, and what it was like to be there, in an era that no longer exists. The stories are especially enjoyed by children, with characters that children can identify with. It is also a good introduction for children to life in the pre-Holocaust years. The book envelopes the reader in the warmth of the writers household, and you feel like you grew up there; you feel a personal rapport with the protagonist. I recommend this book to anyone interested in Jewish life in pre-war Europe, or those interested in furthering their children's background in Jewish life of the time. The classic stories for children in the second half of the book can be enjoyed by all.

To enjoy listening to stories told by grandfather, you don't necessarily have to be a child! As a matter of fact, it is a life virtue to enjoy these stories told by Isaac Bashevis Singer, regardless of age. They are set in the now vanished Hassidic community of pre-II World War, but their moral content transcends time and space, and although they are soaked in Jewishness they equally appeal to the open-minded reader. Beware that out of the seventeen tales in this editon, 14 are included in "My Father's Court," by the same author.

In this retelling of an ancient Jewish legend, Singer demonstrates all his skill.

In ancient times, in a distant land, there was a large city where many rich men lived. It had magnificent palaces, broad avenues, parks and gardens. In their midst wound a tiny street of broken down houses with narrow windows and doorways and roofs that leaked. In the simplest of these lived a holy man named Tobias with his wife Peninah and their three sons and two daughters. Tobias, a scribe, copied Torah scrolls to make his meager living. Tobias suddenly took ill and lost the use of his right hand. He could earn nothing. The family were hungry. His children had no shoes and could not attend school. But Tobias refused the help of others.

"Even while waiting for miracles, it is good to do something," his wife told him, and after borrowing a coat, sent him out to seek some luck. Tobias came upon a stranger, and mysteriously regained use of his hand to grasp the man's hand in greeting. The man introduced himself as Elijah and ordered Tobias to take him to the market and sell him as a slave. Tobias refused, calling himself Elijah's slave, but as Elijah was a messenger from God, Tobias had no choice but to heed him.

What do you suppose happened next? I cannot tell you. But the story honors Elijah's good name. Alyssa A. Lappen

There are no lies - as Gimpel knows- everything that can happen has happened, or is dreamed about at night - as Gimpel tells his faithless wife Elsa, in this classic tale by a Nobel winning author. Gimpel is born in the backwater town of Frampool, and there he is deceived-by the Rabbi, his neighbors, his wife, even himself-until one day Gimpel meets the "Evil One" and that sets him off on a path of wandering that leads him far from Frampool but, - as Gimpel says (to paraphrase) "this is not the real world-but one step away from the real world - and once there - Praise God- even Gimpel cannot be deceived.

El Golem tiene todos los ingredientes que necesita un relato para funcionar, pero en este caso, además, está escrito por Singer. Esto significa que el cuento está bellamente narrado. Singer cuenta de manera simple aún las historias más complejas.

Isaac bashevis singer

to learn about our father, i had to read his sons book. my father has brought me on a journey into vast spaces that needed him. he has made me understand when i had no one to understand, he came to me in a vision..in a book..in many books, yet he is my father and your his son. thank you for the only book that knows him, we know his thoughts..what is it that i cannot comprehend, but thank you for sharing.all my love mina..daughter of mahnaa

Isaac Bashevis Singer was a controversial figure during his lifetime. Though his place in the twentieth-century canon of literature now seems secure, it is still often pointed out that thanks to the Holocaust, Singer's fame was granted to him at the cost of obscurity for other Yiddish writers. His personality also was known to be difficult. There are many who will tell you that Singer was a bastard, including Elie Wiesel (not normally a gossip) in "All Rivers Run to the Sea." Singer probably was one at least fifty percent of the time. Too many stories of his caprice, vanity, and greed for sex and money have been told to be discounted. As to the nature behind both the faults and the gifts, what one saw of it depended on who one was; any competitors for the limelight, real or imagined, got the worst of it. Women got both the best and the worst of Singer, the charm and naivete combined with the mistrust and the manipulation. It is thus fitting that a possibly definitive memoir of Singer should have been written by a woman. Dvorah Telushkin was the writer's secretary and occasional translator. She comes across as a most lovable person, without any of Singer's guile. But they still had a lot in common: they were both fearful and susceptible to flattery. Ms. Telushkin was estranged from her father, Singer from his only child. Dvorah's innocence fit Singer's feminine ideal, exemplified by the child-woman in "Shosha." For years, theirs was a relationship in perfect order. But after winning the Nobel Prize, Singer's ego ran away with him while his health deteriorated rapidly. He became more and more paranoid, finally rejecting Dvorah as he had rejected most others. Ms. Telushkin manages the difficult feat of recording Singer's decline honestly and without sentimentality, while leaving us in no doubt as to her lasting love for him and little as to its essential justice. It is to be hoped that she continues as a writer, one with large ambitions. She has been influenced by Singer; her achievement is to make his eerie tone blend so well with her sense of her own life as a bad dream that the influence comes to seem more like an inheritance. She rescues Singer from the context of Yiddish nostalgia and places him within his own heritage of Jewish fear, uncertainty, and faith, as little G-rated as Celine. This is a deeply touching, near-perfect book. It is required reading for Singer fans, but it is also recommended to anyone struggling to understand a difficult and much-loved parent.

A lively tale reminiscent of the story of Job.

One fine day, Mazel (the spirit of Good Luck) and Schlimazel (the spirit of Bad Luck), are strolling through a small village. Mazel boasts to his companion about his popularity; he is welcomed by all, called upon often, and loved by everyone. "No one ever calls for you," he tells Schlimazel. Scoffing, Schlimazel claims "The world is ruled by the powerful, and what takes you a year to create I can destroy in a second." So they strike a wager: Mazel will brighten the life of the poorest man in the village for a year. At the end of the year Schlimazel will have one second, just one second, to ruin the man. The man is not to be killed, impoverished, or made ill. A cask of magical wine if Schlimazel wins, if Mazel wins Schlimazel must go away for fifty years. They find the poorest man, Tam, and Mazel goes to work.

Through extraordinary good luck (of course), Tam rises from sleeping among toadstools to sleeping in a king's palace. The man the entire village once laughed at becomes the king's trusted advisor and Master of Horses. The fair Princess Nesika, the king's only child and sole heir to the throne, falls in love with him. Tam becomes renown for his wisdom, talent, and skill. Minstrels travel the world recounting tales of Tam's great deeds. How can Schlimazel possibly undo all this in one second?

The king falls ill, and only one thing can cure him: the milk of a lioness. Bravely, Tam sets out, Mazel still secretly at his side. The successful Tam returns to the king, and suddenly, the year is up! Schlimazel pops in, and true to his word, in one mere second Schlimazel manages to utterly ruin Tam's life.

Mazel wallows in guilt and Schlimazel drinks himself into a stupor with the magical wine. Once unconscious, Mazel returns to Tam's side. After all, with the bet completed, Mazel is free to do as he wishes. With Mazel's deft assistance Tam's life and reputation are restored. Mazel sticks around for a while, but now we are told that Tam no longer needs Mazel: for those who are diligent, honest, sincere, and helpful are indeed lucky forever.

A charming story with enchanting watercolor pictures of exotic characters and locales.

Highly recommended.