Norman Podhoretz As brilliant as it is magisterial, Ruth Wisse's The Modern Jewish Canon is also amazingly original. Indeed, I know of no other book that has even attempted what she accomplishes here in telling the story of the Jewish people in the twentieth century through an analysis of the major literary works produced by Jewish writers in a variety of languages, both Jewish (Yiddish and Hebrew) and non-Jewish (ranging from English to German to Russian). I cannot imagine any college course in Jewish Studies ever doing without this extraordinary work. But it will be equally indispensable to any person interested in one of the central historical adventures of the past hundred years. A book about the modern Jewish canon, it has itself secured an honored place of its own in that canon.

Steven J. Zipperstein, Daniel E. Koshland Professor of Jewish Culture and History, Stanford University This is, undoubtedly, the most inventive and provocative of all of Ruth Wisse's books. It is a fiercely argued, beautifully constructed exploration of the complexity of modern Jewish culture and the interplay between writing, politics, and morality. It is haunting, fascinating, and important.

Roger Kimball Managing Editor, The New Criterion Ruth Wisse writes with authority and passion about a realm of literary endeavor that has been unfairly neglected. Readers owe her a great debt for opening these half-forgotten literary treasures.

Leon Wieseltier Literary Editor of The New Republic and author of Kaddish The quantities of tradition that are slipping through the fingers of American Jewry are unprecedented in Jewish history, and Ruth Wisse knows this. In this age of unvexed Jewish illiteracy, she is right to come forward with The Modern Jewish Canon. It should disrupt the complacence and fix a standard for competent disputation. This is a book of sharp ideas and beautiful worries. All that Wisse asks is that we read our books.