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THE CONTROVERSIAL SHOLEM ASCH: AN INTRODUCTION TO HIS FICTION BY BEN SIEGEL (Bowling Green, Oh.: Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1976. 313 pp. $12.95 cloth; $4.95 paper.) Siegel's book is an excellent introduction to Sholem Asch's life and work. Although one might respond to this news by saying, "who cares?" Siegel shows that Asch is worth examining; some of his works are important in themselves and many play important roles in the history ofJewish-American and Yiddish writing and of Jewish-Christian relationships. Siegel sensitively probes the controversies surrounding Asch, controversies that date back at least to 1907 when GodofVengeance wasfirst produced. By placing them in their propercontexts, Siegel shows how ridiculous most were, especially the bitter, sometimes violent ones that resulted from Asch's "Christological" trilogy — The Nazarene (1939), The Apostle (1943), and Mary (1949), works that Asch hoped would unite Christians and Jews and win him the Nobel prize. The trilogy succeeded at neither, instead winning Asch charges of apostasy that plagued him during his old age. Asch's political activities are often more interesting than his fiction, especially for readers who find works like Uncle Moses (1917), and East River (1946) excessively sentimental. Even during and after the Hitler era, Asch never ceased hoping that Jew and Christian could live harmoniously. But he rejoiced in the founding of Israel, spending his last years not in the United States, which he earlier adopted as his home, but in Israel, where he found peace in spite of charges of apostasy which periodically surfaced even there. The only major weakness in Siegel's book involves the sometimes distracting and baffling endnotes. Siegel often cites secondary material when making points that more logically demand citations of primary sources. Yet on the whole, this well-written, sensitive study is rewarding reading for the Asch expert (there are precious few ofthem!) and the person interested in Yiddish or Jewish-American literature and culture. RICHARD TUERK* ?RICHARD TUERK teaches English at East Texas State University. At present he is interested in American immigrantauthors, having published essays on Sadakichi Hartmann, Elias Tobenkin , and Jacob Riis. 174VOL 34. NO 2(SPRING 1980) ...

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