New Book's Stories Span the Generations and Cross the World
TEANECK, N.J., Sept. 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- What is the American-Jewish experience in the 21st century like? To have a better insight into life today, we must look backward to earlier times. Author Joseph Rotenberg does just that with his breakthrough debut book, Timeless Travels: Tales of Mystery, Intrigue, Humor and Entertainment (Gefen Publishing House, Cloth, $24.95, 374 pages, October 2017, ISBN: 9789652299154). (Website/Amazon info)
Rotenberg's ambitious work reflects a lifetime of research, observation, experiences and study of the Jewish people, primarily in the United States, but throughout the world as well.
"I have chosen to take a multi-genre approach to my subject," says Rotenberg, "and in its pages you will find stories of several kinds: fiction, creative non-fiction, memoir, history, and essay. As with life itself, many of the stories are infused with humor and irony."
Rotenberg is a modern-day maggid (traditional Jewish storyteller), weaving tales from the everyday to the fantastic, each one bringing the reader a slice of the American-Jewish experience. Just as Sholem Aleichem's famous stories described Russian Jewish life more than a century ago, Rotenberg's tales inform and entertain by revealing little-known events and personalities that have impacted the American Jewish world.
His efforts have produced an impressive work, providing timeless and timely stories in "an accomplished collection…that forms a cohesive chorus but also allows for individual story voices to sing." (Erin McKnight)
Kirkus Reviews says: "Rotenberg is a gifted storyteller who shifts, seamlessly from fiction to nonfiction, and drama to comedy. In addition, given the unspeakable hardships endured by Jews in the 20th century, his relentless optimism is astonishingly refreshing…His announced focus is the American-Jewish experience in particular and he captures this with all the rigor of an anthropologist and the vivacity of a poet. A remarkably varied assemblage of tales that deftly portrays Jewish life."
As one reads the stories he or she will travel as far and as wide as the Jews themselves, through time and space, from locales in the United States ranging from New York and New Jersey to Colorado, Montana, and Florida, and from Portugal, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Russia, Ukraine, and Poland to Israel (ancient and modern), Morocco, Egypt, and the Sinai Peninsula.
"Most of the characters that readers will find in these 62 stories demonstrate remarkable adaptability and courage in the face of the difficult life challenges they encounter," says Rotenberg.
Contact:
Brian Feinblum, MEDIA CONNECT
212-583-2718 [email protected]
SOURCE Joseph Rotenberg
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