Meshugah

by Isaac Bashevis Singer

Book Overview

"A gem...another enthralling story from this master of fiction."-Booklist. A saga of romantic tangles among Holocaust survivors in early 1950s New York City. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374208476
• ISBN13: 9780374208479
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
• Length: 232 Pages
• Weight: 0.97 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Crazy, crazy...

This is the story of a group of pre-war Yiddish intellectuals transplanted from Warsaw to New York. The main character, Aaron Greidinger, is a short story and novelist writer as much as I.B.Singer was in real life. His friend Max, long thought dead, reappears and introduces his mistress Miriam. A love triangle forms, upon which other triangles will be formed with the introduction of several other characters. Aaron is attracted to Miriam and sees her as a symbolism of renewal in life and faith, but as he discovers the horrible truths behind her façade, he is led to believe the world will never heal; although he respects God he is unable to love a God who has shown no mercy upon his creation. The novel has a philosophical despairing tone, an overall feeling that indeed the world has gone "meshugah," (crazy, crazy)! This a posthumously novel published in 1994 and certainly not the best form Isaac Bashevis Singer.

Another Singer Classic

I first read "The Slave" and fell in love with Singer's simple yet vivid story telling. Meshugah did not disappoint. I enjoyed reading about three colorful characters (Polish refugees) involved in a bizarre love triangle. Meshugah gives great insight on life after the Holocaust. Despite the horrors of WWII, Judaism, the Yiddish language, and love continue in New York City.