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Unfinished People: Eastern European Jews Encounter America Audiobook
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(3.00) - 16 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Nearly three million Jews came to America from Eastern Europe between 1880 and the outbreak of World War I, filled with the hope of life in a new land. Most were young, single, uneducated, and unskilled; many were children or teens. They were, in a sense, unfinished citizens of either the old or the new world.
Within two generations, these newcomers settled and prospered in the densely populated Yiddish-speaking neighborhoods of New York City. Against this backdrop, Ruth Gay narrates their rarely told story, bringing alive the vitality of the streets, markets, schools, synagogues, and tenement halls where a new version of America was invented in the 1920s and 30s. An intimate, unforgettable account, Unfinished People is a unique and vibrant portrait of a resilient people in their daily trials and rituals.
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“[Reader] Fields amplifies the book's primary strength—making comprehensible a culture that seems alien even to the children of the author's generation.”
— AudioFile
Quotes
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“Beautifully written, meticulously researched.”
— New Statesman -
“Gay provides a glimpse into Jewish immigrant life absent from most historians’ accounts…This highly readable volume should have wide appeal.”
— Library Journal -
“An enjoyable, easily digestible introduction to her parents’ and her own generation’s uneven and sometimes uneasy acculturation.”
— Kirkus Reviews
Awards
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Winner of the National Jewish Book Award
Unfinished People Listener Reviews
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" A fine book if you want to know the real life experiences of the jewish immigrants in New York. "
— Karen, 11/26/2011
About Ruth Gay
Ruth Gay lives in Hamden, Connecticut, with her husband, Peter Gay. She is the author also of The Jews of Germany: A Historical Portrait.
About Anna Fields
Kate Fleming (a.k.a. Anna Fields) (1965–2006), winner of more than a dozen Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award in 2004, was one of the most respected narrators in the industry. Trained at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, she was also a director, producer, and technician at her own studio, Cedar House Audio.