How to Be a Jewish Mother is a 1964 Jewish humor book by American humorist Dan Greenburg which was the best-selling non-fiction book in the United States in 1965, with 270,000 copies sold.[2][3][4] The book was first published by Price Stern Sloan under publisher Larry Sloan.[5][6]
 First edition | |
| Author | Dan Greenburg |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Price Stern Sloan |
Publication date | October 1964[1] |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 99 |
The book was adapted into a play starring Molly Picon and Godfrey Cambridge which had a brief run on Broadway at the Hudson Theater from December 1967 through January 1968.[1][7] The actress Gertrude Berg was preparing for the main role in the play but died during pre-production.[8]
The play was profiled in the William Goldman book The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway.
A 1983 French adaptation, Comment devenir une mère juive en 10 leçons, met with long-running success.[9][10] Gertrude Berg also released a best-selling comedy album from the book in 1965.[1]
It was re-issued as a mass-market paperback in 1991 (ISBN 0843100206, ISBN 9780843100204).
It is deemed as a book that reinforced the stereotype of the Jewish mother in American culture.[11] The anthropologist Jonathan Boyarin qualified the book a "work of covert anti-Semitism".[12]
References
edit- ^ a b c Battaglio, Stephen. David Susskind: A Televised Life, p. 251 (2010)
- ^ Hackett, Alice Payne. Seventy years of best sellers, 1895-1965, p. 227 (1967)
- ^ The Bookseller ("Non-Fiction. The bestseller of the year in non- fiction was a book called How to Be a Jewish Mother, by Dan Greenburg")
- ^ Bernstein, Fred A. The Jewish Mothers' Hall of Fame (chapter on Leah Greenburg and the book) (1986)
- ^ Werris, Wendy (2012-10-15). "Obituary: Larry Sloan, 89". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2012-11-17.
- ^ Wang, Regina (2012-10-18). "'Mad Libs' Publisher Larry Sloan Dies". Time Magazine. Retrieved 2012-11-17.
- ^ (29 December 1967). Theater: 'How to Be a Jewish Mother'; Molly Picon Stars With Godfrey Cambridge, The New York Times
- ^ Marjorie Ingall (16 September 2018). "Remembering the Emmys' First Best Actress Winner". Tabletmag.com. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
- ^ (10 March 2001). Une mère juive joyeuse et drôle, Le Parisien (in French)
- ^ (6 October 2004). Comment devenir une mère juive...., lemagazine.info (in French)
- ^ Emily Shire (14 April 2017). "How 'Crazy' Are Jewish Mothers?". Thedailybeast.com. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
- ^ "You Don't Have to Be". The New York Times. 21 February 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
External links
edit- How to Be a Jewish Mother (1967 revue) at the Playbill Vault (archive)
- How to Be a Jewish Mother at the Internet Broadway Database
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