Lansky, Aaron. Outwitting history; the amazing adventures of a man who rescued a million Yiddish books.

LANSKY, Aaron. Outwitting history; the amazing adventures of a man who rescued a million Yiddish books. Read by George Guidall. 7 tapes. 10.25 hrs. Recorded Books. 2004/2006. 1-4193-4949-x. $69.75. Vinyl; content, reader notes. SA

Yiddish is experiencing a revival these days, largely because of the labor of love tirelessly attended to by the author and his associates. Lansky became interested in the language when it was unfashionable, ignored equally by religious Jews who believed its secularity was "unclean" and by assimilationists who felt Americans should only speak English. Quick to understand that Yiddish's polyglot vocabulary transmitted centuries of Jewish culture that would die with his grandparents' generation if nobody were able to read or write it, he decided to round up and preserve the finite body of Yiddish books before it was too late. Lansky's efforts are described anecdotally as his quest takes him all over the world from Boston, the Bronx and the Borscht Belt to the Baltics and beyond, wherever large communities of Jews once resided. Along the way, he meets many interesting people; some, like Leo Rosten, whom one would expect and others, like Woody Guthrie's widow, whom one would not.

Guidall gives a warm and animated performance both in English and in Yiddish. An entertaining, down-to-earth and important historical memoir. Francine Levitov, Attorney, New York, NY

S--Recommend for senior high school students.

A--Recommend for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will help KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries.