Two Jews on a Train: Stories from the Old Country and the New

by Adam Biro

Book Overview

"Two Jews were traveling on a train. . . . " Many Eastern European jokes--and several of the charming and often hilarious conversations in this book--begin this way. From all regions of the world and from all walks of life, the characters are young and full of life and old and ugly; they are rabbis, matchmakers, students, and immigrants. They gossip and speak about everything from the banalities of the world to the unspeakable evils of existence all...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226052141
• ISBN13: 9780226052144
• Release Date: May 2001
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.8" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Storyteller supreme

Biro makes no claim to writing most of his stories; his power is in the telling. Even his telling of the borrowing of the stories is captivating. Try hard to not look at the last sentence of each story.

Two Beautiful Translations

A classic collection of jokes, told with rich detail. The tone is perfect, though it came from the languages of Eastern Europe, through French, to English.