Says NY Times best-selling comedic author of Born to Kvetch, Michael Wex: “Yiddish is a lot of things but innocent isn't one of them.” Wex kibitzes about the Yiddish take on dating & relationships.
Plus,Wex on Sex – oy vey!
Date: Thursday, March 30, 2006
Place: Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, 2100 Arch Street, Philadelphia
Time: 6:30/Wine reception with kosher noshies, 7:00 / Presentation & BOOKSIGNING!
Cost: $10 in advance, $15 at the door
RSVP: Leah Wenger, lwenger@philafederation.org / 215-832-0894
Writer and raconteur, bon vivant and itinerant teacher of Yiddish, Michael Wex has been called "a Yiddish national treasure." Born to Kvetch, his best-selling book about Yiddish, was hailed by The New York Times as "wise, witty and altogether wonderful." A uniquely engaging treatment of how and why Yiddish became more comfortable with heartburn than with happiness, Born to Kvetch looks at the ingredients that went into this buffet of disenchantment and then examines how they were applied to daily life. Wex will treat the Youngish & Yiddish Series to tantalizing tidbits from his chapters on dating, relationships, and sex followed by a book-signing of Born to Kvetch.
Wex's teaching and lecture activities--a unique combination of learning, stand-up comedy and probing investigation into the nature of Yiddish and Yiddishkayt--have taken him from Toronto to Budapest, and to many points in between. The approach is so unique and appealing that his annual series of classes on Yiddish at Klezkamp has been renamed Wexology--and not at Wex's instigation. The only complaint ever heard is that people are enjoying themselves so much that they forget to take notes.
The last brittle sprout of a rabbinic family-tree, Wex is the sole descendant of the Rebbes of Ciechanow and Strykow to have been born in Lethbridge, Alberta. Although he has taught at both the University of Toronto and the University of Michigan, Wex attained the summit of his academic career as a fellow of Massey College in the University of Toronto; loosely speaking, he was Robertson Davies' roommate. At the same time, he was a frequent guest in the house of the late Stretiner Rebbe, Rabbi Isaac Langner.
Wex's activities extend into virtually every area of contemporary Yiddish. He has lectured and performed in venues ranging from Borscht Belt hotels to recreation centers in what was once East Germany. Some of his Yiddish songs have been recorded by such klezmer bands as The Klezmatics, Sukke, and The Flying Bulgars. Wex has translated extensively from Yiddish to English, while his authorized Yiddish translation of Weill and Brecht's Threepenny Opera premiered in June, 2001.
Reviews of Born to Kvetch
“From the inimitable, the erudite Michael Wex, famous for his monologues on the Yiddish language, his greatest monologue of all, Born to Kvetch. A celebrated figure of the ‘Yiddish avant-garde’, Wex casts a backward glance and wry eye on the Yiddish language. He makes each word open up like a flower and follows the roots in unexpected, often mischievous, directions.” Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, author of Destination Culture: Tourism, Museums and Heritage
“funny, erudite” People Magazine
“Even the most goy New Yorkers know a word or two of Yiddish - maybe from their schlep to work every day...Michael Wex looks at the history of the boisterous language, and the politics, sociology and folklore surrounding it. And even Elvis makes an appearance...” Billy Heller, New York Post
“...wise, witty and altogether wonderful... Mr. Wex has perfect pitch. He always finds the precise word, the most vivid metaphor, for his juicy Yiddishisms, and he enjoys teasing out complexities. ” William Grimes, New York Times |
