The Story of the Jews: A 4,000 Year Adventure - Hardcover

Mack, Stanley

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375501304 ISBN 13: 9780375501302

Publisher: Villard, 1998

Synopsis

Beginning with Abraham and Sarah, celebrated artist Stan Mack takes us on a rewarding pictorial
journey across 4,000 years of Jewish history, through its ups and downs. From the biblical era to the twentieth century, with Mack's signature wit and delightful sketches, we witness Moses receiving the Ten Commandments, the world's first "oy," the creation of the Talmud, the Crusades, the Holocaust, the birth of the Israeli state, the evolution of the stand-up comic, and much more. In addition, we meet the men and women who have shaped the Jewish experience, including Maimonides, Theodor Hertzl, Irving Berlin, and Golda Meier. An illustrated narrative that celebrates the major characters and events that built this enduring culture, The Story of the Jews is a first of its kind and worthy of a sincere mazel tov.

About this title

About the Author

The recipient of awards from the American Booksellers Association and the American Ins-titute of Graphic Arts, Stan Mack is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and the former art director of The New York Times Magazine. He's created regular cartoon features for Adweek, Modern Maturity, Print, and Natural History, and Real Life Funnies for The Village Voice. He's authored and/or illustrated over a dozen children's books and collaborates on young adult books with his partner, Janet Bode.

From the Back Cover

"Funny and original, and it won't take 4,000 years to read."
--Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons

"Veteran cartoonist Stan Mack brings his hip, contemporary sensibility to bear upon the sacred precincts of Jewish history and the result is, unexpectedly, a joy to behold. The artful and varied drawings breathe an air of enchantment that will both beguile and instruct children, while the often mischievous asides and commentary should bring a knowing smile to the lips of the most sophisticated adults. By sweeping away the cobwebs from Jewish history, Stan Mack has taken something familiar and made it fresh, piquant, and appealing to people of all ages."
--Ron Chernow, author of The Warburgs

"The work is wonderful! What a refreshing view of the story. I didn't want it to end."
--Leonard Nimoy

"No mordant minimalism, The Story of the Jews; Stan Mack puts it all out there, in a wonderfully funny and enlightening way."
--Ann Beattie, author of Another You

"Profound congratulations to Stan Mack on authoring this singular and most-needed history of the Jewish people. To say that it is highly readable and extremely enjoyable is understating the obvious. The work presents concepts and ideas that, for other authors, might take pages or chapters to explain. But Stan Mack, through his imaginative drawings, delivers the concepts and convictions of the Jewish people in a charming and engrossing style. Mazel tov: we really needed this opus to supplement all the other long and stodgy Jewish history books."
--Rabbi Lawrence Goldmark, president, the Board of Rabbis of Southern California

From the Inside Flap

th Abraham and Sarah, celebrated artist Stan Mack takes us on a rewarding pictorial<br>journey across 4,000 years of Jewish history, through its ups and downs. From the biblical era to the twentieth century, with Mack's signature wit and delightful sketches, we witness Moses receiving the Ten Commandments, the world's first "oy," the creation of the Talmud, the Crusades, the Holocaust, the birth of the Israeli state, the evolution of the stand-up comic, and much more. In addition, we meet the men and women who have shaped the Jewish experience, including Maimonides, Theodor Hertzl, Irving Berlin, and Golda Meier. An illustrated narrative that celebrates the major characters and events that built this enduring culture, The Story of the Jews is a first of its kind and worthy of a sincere mazel tov.

Reviews

YA-At a near breakneck pace, this graphic-novel-style capitulation of history may be short on explanations but does an extraordinary job of presenting the experiences of the Jewish people in relation to social developments and political exigencies of every era. Humorous line cartoons with the occasional dialogue balloon expressing an "Oy" or an exemplary bit of pilpul carry readers through centuries of Biblical trials, tribulations, and discoveries. Secular Jews may find themselves deeply engaged by this facile journey through a past they haven't been able to reconstruct from traditional world-history courses. Other readers, too, will find a gem or two to nod and smile over. The greatest strength of this text is Mack's ability to humanize the nexus of cultures, whether it is Jews with Syrians, Jews with Greeks, or Jews arriving in the U.S. A supplement to ethnic-studies texts as well as an informative choice for casual readers.
Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Villard
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0375501304
• ISBN 13: 9780375501302
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 273