Written in an informal style culturally suited to its subject, this book looks deeply at 20th century American Jewish humorists. The first few chapters set up the subject of American Jewish comedy and its history. The remainder focuses on profiles of individual comedians. It should be noted that after the vaudeville era, the book is really about American Jewish male comics; though there is a short section on Jewish women comics at the end of the book that discusses a few modern figures and the neglect of women in comedy, the style and cultural issues covered in this book are specific to the problems of assimilation and difference for Jewish men in the 20th century, especially in the post-WWII era. It will have secondary use for readers interested in parallel work of non-Jewish black male entertainers such as Dick Gregory; the book discusses connections between Jewish and black men's social subversion through comedy in the era. The style is naturalistically Borsht Belt, chatty and opinionated in tone with some Freudian takes on personal histories, but the book is strongly researched by an academic historian and socioculturally aware. It discusses the responses of both the public and Jewish writers and critics in the "highbrow" world to each comedian's work. The book is a very solid reference particularly for mid-century film and television. General readers will appreciate the style, and scholars the substance. Annotation ©2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
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