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Chaim Potok was a world-class writer and scholar, a Conservative Jew who wrote from and about his tradition and the conflicts between observance and acculturation. With a plain, straightforward style, his novels were set against the moral, spiritual, and intellectual currents of the twentieth century. This collection aims to widen the lens through which we read Chaim Potok and to establish him as an authentic American writer who created unforgettable characters forging American identities for themselves while retaining their Jewish nature. The essays illuminate the central struggle in Potok’s novels, which results from a profound desire to reconcile the appeal of modernity with the pull of traditional Judaism. The volume includes a memoir by Adena Potok and ends with Chaim Potok’s “My Life as a Writer,” a speech he gave at Penn State in 1982.

Aside from the editor, the contributors are Victoria Aarons, Nathan P. Devir, Jane Eisner, Susanne Klingenstein, S. Lillian Kremer, Jessica Lang, Sanford E. Marovitz, Kathryn McClymond, Hugh Nissenson, Adena Potok, and Jonathan Rosen.

Table of Contents

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  1. COVER Front
  2. p. 1
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  1. Title Page, Copyright, Dedication
  2. pp. 2-7
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  1. Table of Contents
  2. pp. vi-viii
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  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. ix-x
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  1. Introduction
  2. pp. xi-xix
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  1. PART 1: The Novels
  2. pp. 1-23
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  1. Chapter 1: The Chosen: Defining American Judaism
  2. pp. 3-19
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  1. Chapter 2: The Three-Pronged Dialectic: Understanding Conflict in Potok’s Early Fiction
  2. pp. 20-29
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  1. Chapter 3: Guardians of the Torah: Ambiguity and Antagonism in The Promise
  2. pp. 30-46
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  1. Chapter 4: Daedalus Redeemed: Asher Lev’s Journey from Rebellion to Rapprochement
  2. pp. 47-57
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  1. Chapter 5: Davita’s harp: The Silence of Violence and the Limits of the Imagination
  2. pp. 58-79
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  1. Chapter 6: The Book of Lights: A Book of Choices
  2. pp. 80-96
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  1. Chapter 7: History and Responsibility: An Assessment of Potok’s “Non-Jewish” I Am the Clay
  2. pp. 97-116
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  1. PART 2: Looking Back: Memories of Potok
  2. pp. 117-139
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  1. Chapter 8: Choosing the Chosen: A Reappraisal of The Chosen
  2. pp. 119-127
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  1. Chapter 9: A Zwischenmensch (“Between Person”) in the Cultures
  2. pp. 128-133
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  1. Chapter 10: Chaim Potok and the Question of jewish Writing
  2. pp. 134-140
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  1. Chapter 11: Chaim Potok: A Literary Biography
  2. pp. 145-147
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  1. Chapter 12: Chaim Potok Is No Longer with Us, but His Lessons Remain
  2. pp. 145-147
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  1. Chapter 13: Adena Potok on I Am the Clay
  2. pp. 148-159
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  1. Chapter 14: Chaim Potok: My Life as a Writer
  2. pp. 160-174
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  1. List of Contributors
  2. pp. 175-176
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 177-205
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  1. COVER Back
  2. p. 206
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