Eminent Jews : Bernstein, Brooks, Friedan, Mailer / David Denby.

Author/creator Denby, David, 1943- author.
Format Book
EditionFirst edition.
PublicationNew York, NY : Henry Holt and Company, 2025.
Descriptionxiv, 383 pages, 8 unnumbered leaves of unnumbered plates : illustrations ; 24 cm
Subjects

Contents Prologue: At home in America I -- Mel Brooks and the end of self-pity -- Betty Friedan and the end of subservience -- Norman Mailer and the end of shame -- Leonard Bernstein and the end of apprenticeship -- Epilogue: At home in America II.
Abstract "Leonard Bernstein, Mel Brooks, Betty Friedan, and Norman Mailer. Brilliant, brash, 100 percent Jewish and 100 percent American, they were hell-bent on shaking up the world of their fathers. They worked in different fields, and, apart from clinking glasses at parties now and then, they hardly knew one another. But they shared a commonhistorical moment and a common temperament. For all four, their Jewish heritage was electrified by American liberty. As prosperity for American Jews increased and anti-Semitism began to fade after World War II, these four creative giants stormed through the latter half of the twentieth century, altering the way people listened to music, defined what was vulgar or not, comprehended the relations of men and women, and understood the nation's soul. They were not saints; they were Jews, children of immigrants, turbulent and self-dissatisfiedintellectuals who fearlessly wielded their own newly won freedom tofree up American culture. Celebratory yet candid, at times fiercelycritical, David Denby presents these four figures as egotistical and generous-larger-than-life, all of them, both daringly individual and emblematic of their Jewish generation"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references and index.
Genre/formBiographies.
Genre/formBiographies.
ISBN1250193400
ISBN9781250193407 (hardcover)

Availability

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Joyner General Stacks E184.36 .I58 D46 2025 ✔ Available Place Hold