Jewish Cowboy - Der Yiddisher Cowboy - Softcover

Isaac Raboy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0945917007 ISBN 13: 9780945917007

Publisher: Tradition Books, 1989

Synopsis

Describes the adventures of a young Jewish immigrant who becomes a cowboy on a North Dakota horse ranch

About this title

Reviews

The title of this 1942 Yiddish novel holds out the delicious promise of adventure on horseback, with a touch of Isaac Bashevis Singer's wry wit. But the book, based on Raboy's own turn-of-the-century experiences and newly translated into English, is more like a slice of prairie life, with little derring-do and a lot of tedious chores. The hero, an immigrant horse-lover called Isaac who toils in New York City sweatshops, moves to North Dakota to pursue a career as a ranchhand and to serve as an example of a "constructive" Jew. But his boss turns out to be cruel, miserly and anti-Semitic to boot, and Isaac soon becomes disillusioned with the West. He is also unable to find romance, never quite consummating an on-again, off-again relationship with a servant, and greeting his boss's wife's admission of feelings for him with a flat, "That's very interesting." The novel makes easy reading, but Raboy's writing is a mixture of the pedestrian, the over-earnest and the shmaltzy, with only rare moments of drama or humor.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Tradition Books
• Publication date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0945917007
• ISBN 13: 9780945917007
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 297