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    Born To Kvetch
    Born To Kvetch
    Born To Kvetch
    Audiobook10 hours

    Born To Kvetch

    Written by Michael Wex

    Narrated by Michael Wex

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    As the main spoken language of the Jews for more than a thousand years, Yiddish has had plenty to lament, plenty to conceal. Its phrases and expressions paint a comprehensive picture of the mind-set that enabled the Jews of Europe to survive persecution: they never stopped kvetching about God, gentiles, children, and everything else.

    In Born to Kvetch, Michael Wex looks at the ingredients that went into this buffet of disenchantment and examines how they were mixed together to produce an almost limitless supply of striking idioms and withering curses. Born to Kvetch includes a wealth of material that's never appeared in English before.

    This is no bobe mayse (cock-and-bull story) from a khokhem be-layle (idiot, literally a ""sage at night"" when no one's looking), but a serious yet fun and funny look at a language. From tukhes to goy, meshugener to kvetch, Yiddish words have permeated and transformed English as well. Through the fascinating history of this kvetch-full tongue, Michael Wex gives us a moving and inspiring portrait of a people, and a language, in exile.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateMar 21, 2006
    ISBN9780061173240
    Born To Kvetch
    Author

    Michael Wex

    Michael Wex (born September 12, 1954) is a Canadian novelist, playwright, translator, lecturer, performer, and author of books on language and literature. His specialty is Yiddish and his book Born to Kvetch was a surprise bestseller in 2005. Wex lives in Toronto with his wife and daughter Sabina. Michael Wex was born in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada to a family of descendants of Rebbes of Ciechanów and Stryków. He has taught at the University of Toronto and the University of Michigan.

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    Reviews for Born To Kvetch

    3.5/5

    91 ratings9 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      OK, so some chapters were better than others -- but really, that's to be expected when you have an entire chapters devoted to cursing and body parts! Overall, this is hysterical and great to understand how Yiddish has really developed. So stop kvetching and read this book ;-)

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      the cadence of each sentence being read, makes me miss my great uncle Troyansky....and it makes me laugh. It is a bit distracting from the text, also the author's obsession with Jesus is a bit much.

      so...interesting book, but not what I had hoped for.
    • 5/5
      Oy, this book is just too good.Oy, this book is just too good. Oy, this book is just too good.Oy, I can't believe I've read such a good book.
    • 4/5
      I was given this book by a friend who knows that I would like to learn Yiddish someday. Lots of really interesting things about the language and the customs, attitudes, and worldview both of and in it.
    • 3/5
      Actual rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars. A bit of a lengthy read - I took a four year break (!!!) because the first time I tried to read it, it was too dense for me - but definitely a delightful look at Yiddish and a good taste of future reads in the same vein.
    • 4/5
      Funny, educational, entertaining, revealing - I really enjoyed this book and even though I was familiar with Eastern-European Jewish culture (well as much as one of those "dangerous and alluring" Shikse can be), I learned a great deal in this little book and have a much deeper feeling for the culture, religion and people - past and present.
    • 5/5
      Oy, this book is just too good.Oy, this book is just too good. Oy, this book is just too good.Oy, I can't believe I've read such a good book.
    • 5/5
      OK, so some chapters were better than others -- but really, that's to be expected when you have an entire chapters devoted to cursing and body parts! Overall, this is hysterical and great to understand how Yiddish has really developed. So stop kvetching and read this book ;-)
    • 3/5
      Rambling and confusing at times but overall a fun read.