Wonder of Wonders - by Alisa Solomon (Paperback)
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<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br>"A Metropolitan book, Henry Holt and Company."<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><p>In the half-century since its premiere, <i>Fiddler on the Roof</i> has become a supremely potent cultural landmark, beloved by audiences the world over. Now, in a history as captivating as its subject, award-winning drama critic Alisa Solomon traces how and why the story of Tevye the milkman, the creation of the great Yiddish writer Sholem-Aleichem, was reborn as blockbuster entertainment and a cultural touchstone, not only for Jews and not only in America. <p/>It is first a story of the theater, as Solomon follows Tevye from his humble appearance on the New York Yiddish stage, through his adoption by leftist dramatists as a symbol of oppression, to his Broadway debut and his starring role in a major Hollywood picture. And it is a cultural story, of a show that spoke to the deepest conflicts and desires the world over: the fraying of tradition, generational tension, the loss of roots. Entertaining and original, <i>Wonder of Wonders</i> reveals the profound legacy of a show about tradition that itself became a tradition.</p><p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br><p>"As rich and dense as a chocolate babka--so crammed with tasty layers that you have to pace yourself....As brilliant a piece of reporting as I've read this year." --<i>The New York Times Book Review</i> <p/>"An intellectually serious, playful, and insightful account of popular art's power to shape memory and transmute history into universal myth, <i>Wonder of Wonders</i> is a soul-stirring joy to read....The richest, deepest, most far-ranging, and delightfully surprising book about a single work of theatrical art I've ever encountered." --<i>Tony Kushner, author of Angels in America</i> <p/>"A riveting tale...A smart, thorough, and engaging history that puts <i>Fiddler </i>in the context of twentieth-century Jewishness, American theatre history, Broadway musicals, and transnational theatre productions, but is also a love letter to the miracle of co-creation and how popular culture first relays culture and later shapes it." --<i>Theatre Journal</i> <p/>"Fascinating....Tasty and provocative." --<i>Playbill</i> <p/>"Exuberant." --<i>The Wall Street Journal</i> <p/>"Exemplary critical history." --<i>The Washington Post</i> <p/>"Glorious...A thrilling, must-read book...In more than thirty years of reading, writing and thinking about theater as an actor, critic and fan, I've never read a book on the subject that taught or moved me as much - reflecting Solomon's ability to weave gobs of meticulous research into a compelling, beautifully written story." --<i>Milwaukee Journal Sentinel</i> <p/>"I expected that this book would revive many treasured memories, which it certainly did. What I didn't expect to find was the fascinating history of Sholem-Aleichem's <i>Tevye's Daughters</i> or the riveting and unexpectedly moving account of <i>Fiddler</i>'s fortunes after the end of the musical's Broadway run. I have always been proud of <i>Fiddler</i>, but never more so than after reading this astonishing book." --<i>Sheldon Harnick, lyricist, Fiddler on the Roof</i> <p/>"Alisa Solomon was put on earth to write this exceptional and essential book. A world-class theater critic, a learned Yiddishist, a trenchant journalist, and just a plain wonderful writer, she has brought all her skills to bear in tracing the history of the Tevye stories that became <i>Fiddler on the Roof</i>. The Broadway musical, in her hands, becomes a Rosetta Stone for understanding the Jewish journey." --<i>Samuel G. Freedman, author of Jew vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry</i> <p/>"<i>Wonder of Wonders</i> is a wonder! Alisa Solomon explains in vivid detail how and why <i>Fiddler on the Roof</i> became iconic as both authentically Jewish and universally relevant. A fantastic storyteller, an astute cultural interpreter, and a superb critic, Solomon offers an elegantly crafted, moving, thoughtful, and entertaining account of <i>Fiddler</i>'s journeys across time and place. This is the story of <i>Fiddler</i> for the ages." --<i>Stacy Wolf, author of Changed for Good: A Feminist History of the Broadway Musical</i> <p/>"If you think you have seen <i>Fiddler on the Roof</i>, think again. The wonder of it all is the magic that transformed stories by Sholem-Aleichem into a near universal icon of enduring power. How that happened, the multifarious forms and meanings of <i>Fiddler on the Roof</i>, is the subject of Alisa Solomon's meticulously researched and beautifully written book." --<i>Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, author of Destination Culture: Tourism, Museums, and Heritage</i> <p/>"<i>Wonder of Wonders</i> combines probing theater history with incisive cultural studies and a compelling narrative. From Sholem-Aleichem's Tevye stories to the triumphant Broadway musical, from politically charged productions in Brooklyn, Tel Aviv, and Kraków to the sanctification of <i>Fiddler</i> numbers in Jewish ritual, Alisa Solomon traces the transformation of <i>Fiddler</i> into a cultural phenomenon that has powerfully spoken for American Jews as well as so many others around the world." --<i>Jeffrey Shandler, author of Shtetl: A Vernacular Intellectual History</i></p><br><p/><br></br><p><b> About the Author </b></p></br></br>Alisa Solomon teaches at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, where she directs the Arts & Culture concentration in the MA program. A theater critic and general reporter for <i>The Village Voice</i> from 1983 to 2004, she has also contributed to <i>The New York Times</i>, <i> The Nation</i>, <i>Tablet</i>, <i>The Forward</i>, and other publications. Her first book, <i>Re-Dressing the Canon: Essays on Theater and Gender</i>, won the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism. She lives in New York City
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