Comrades and Chicken Ranchers: The Story of a California Jewish Community
Language: English
Published by Cornell University Press, 1993
- Softcover
- Used
Seller: The Haunted Bookshop, LLC, Iowa City, IA, U.S.A.The Haunted Bookshop, LLC
AbeBooks seller since November 4, 1999
Condition: Used - Very good
US$ 21.00
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Clean pages except for a prior owner's name on the first (half-title) page; a slight fold runs through the top corners of the first 40 pages; the spine is square and uncreased, the soft cover showing a short fold at the top right front and modest edge wear at spine ends, otherwise well-kept. x, 303pp.
Seller Inventory # 00086653
- Title
- Comrades and Chicken Ranchers: The Story of a California Jewish Community
- Author
- Kann, Kenneth L.
- Publisher
- Cornell University Press
- Publication year
- 1993
- Condition
- Very Good
- Binding
- Paperback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0801480752
- ISBN 13
- 9780801480751
- Seller catalogs
- Judaica
Given its tumultuous history, one would hardly have expected Petaluma, California, to become transformed into the San Francisco bedroom suburb that it is today. It had been a small-town agricultural community, where Jewish chicken ranchers and radicals enjoyed a vigorous Yiddish cultural life, maintained intense political commitments, and took part in sharp conflicts among themselves and with the society beyond.
In this unique work of oral history, Kenneth Kann has ingeniously arranged and edited interviews with more than two hundred people, some of them telling their life stories in their own Yiddishized English. We meet an array of striking characters and families of three generations—East European immigrant settlers, their children, and their grandchildren.
The narrative begins with the immigrant generation's flight from the Old World and traces the immigrants' long, uneasy adjustment to life in America. It describes the dilemma of the members of the second generation, who find themselves torn between the ways of their parents and the gentile world around them. The book concludes with accounts of the third generation, who feel distant from their grandparents but who struggle to recover lost ethnic roots and are uncertain how to raise their children.
In this compelling chorus of voices, we find a Jewish Communist who describes being tarred and feathered in the 1930s and his grandson, recalling his own encounters, during the anti-war movement of the 1960s, with the grandchildren of the vigilantes who carried out the earlier assault. An immigrant proudly explains why she taught her children Yiddish, and a grandchild scolds his parents because they did not. One young woman finds the Jewish community too gossipy and confining; another is warmed by its closeness.
The cast is vibrant, their words both touching and often hilarious. Comrades and Chicken Ranchers is a delight.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
Kenneth L. Kann practices law in San Francisco. He is also the author of Joe Rapoport: The Life of a Jewish Radical.
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
The Haunted Bookshop, LLC
Iowa City, IA, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since November 4, 1999
Shipping rates within U.S.A.
| Item | 5 to 14 business days | 3 to 8 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | US$ 5.50 | US$ 10.50 |
Payment methods
Store description
The Haunted Bookshop is an open shop with over 40,000 quality used, out-of-print, and antiquarian titles for students, scholars, collectors, artists, families and children. We also carry puppets, jigsaw puzzles, and a wide selection of carefully chosen toys, games, and gifts for many interests and all ages. The store has been in business since 1978 and is now located in a historic home in Northside Iowa City. Member IOBA.
Specialty
Essays, Literature, Theater, Poetry, History, Science, Criticism, Art, Iowa, Mythology, Classical AntiquitySeller's business information
The Haunted Bookshop, LLC
219 N Gilbert St
Iowa City, IA U.S.A. 52245
Terms of sale
The Haunted Bookshop, LLC, is owned by Nialle Sylvan and operates an open storefront in Iowa City, Iowa. All contact information represented on this page is accurate, emails checked daily; concerns or complaints are best sent by email or telephone. Books listed on the site may be subject to prior sale because of our open store status.
CANCELLATIONS AND RETURNS: Order cancellations prior to shipment incur no fee; cancellations after shipment are considered discretionary returns. We accept items returned in "as sold" condition when shipped within 14 days of your receipt of the parcel; discretionary returns (i.e., if the customer elects not to keep the book for reasons of no longer needing or wanting it) will receive a refund of the book price; returns made due to errors on our part will receive full refunds. Please contact us prior to returning an item to discuss all available remedies.
Shipping terms
Orders usually ship within 1 business day. Shipping costs are based on books weighing 2.2 LB, or 1 KG. If your book order is heavy or oversized, we may contact you to let you know extra shipping is required. We ship via US Postal Service and can insure upon request (insurance is free on items over $200). All shipments are protected from water, padded, reinforced if potentially bendable, and boxed if fragile or over $50 in value (otherwise, a bubble mailer may be used).