{"product_id":"only-in-america-al-jolson-and-the-jazz-singer-9780805243673","title":"Only in America: Al Jolson and the Jazz Singer","description":"\u003cb\u003eA probing biography of world-renowned Jewish singer and actor Al Jolson and the history of his performance in and the making of \u003ci\u003eThe Jazz Singer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAl Jolson, born Asa Yoelson, immigrated from a \u003ci\u003eshtetl \u003c\/i\u003ein Lithuania to the United States in 1894 after his father secured a job as a rabbi in Washington, D.C. A poor, Yiddish-speaking newcomer navigating a racially segregated and antisemitic America, young Jolson dreamed of becoming a star, and he did. Thanks to his immense talent and his knack for assimilating into new environments, by the time he reached his twenties he was the most famous and highly paid entertainer in America, making almost $5,000 a week at a time when the average American made $800 a year. Jolson's public adoration and widespread acceptance as a star marked the beginning of an enriching cultural transformation, a moment when the American mind opened up to ethnic and racial differences, widening the gap of acceptability. And yet Jolson himself, despite being ferociously ambitious and gigantically talented, was crippled by insecurity, often nervous to the point of collapse, prisoner to his many vices. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThrough Jolson, Bernstein simultaneously breaks open the history and legacy of the cultural sensation \u003ci\u003eThe Jazz Singer.\u003c\/i\u003e Not only was \u003ci\u003eThe Jazz Singer\u003c\/i\u003e the first feature length film with synchronized music and dialogue, but it was also taboo smashing in its content\u003ci\u003e The Jazz Singer\u003c\/i\u003e is all about Jews, Orthodox and otherwise. Bernstein expounds on the making of \u003ci\u003eThe Jazz Singer, \u003c\/i\u003e what the film meant then and now, introducing the many individuals involved in its production, including Samson Raphaelson, a young Jewish writer whose short story was the basis for the movie; the four Warner brothers, who made a fortune off it; and George Jessel, Jolson's rival and the star of Raphaelson's stage adaptation of his short story. In the background emerges a picture of old Hollywood in the Roaring Twenties: cutthroat and greedy yet visionary and progressive. And while \u003ci\u003eThe Jazz Singer\u003c\/i\u003e represented the future in many ways, it also dredged up the worst of the past, including Jolson's use of blackface, common at the time. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAt once a tale of the Judaizing of American culture and an acknowledgment of the challenges to come, \u003ci\u003eOnly in America\u003c\/i\u003e is a glistening examination of a man at the center of a watershed moment in the arts.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRICHARD BERNSTEIN has been a reporter, foreign correspondent, and culture critic for forty years, starting at \u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e magazine, then at \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times, \u003c\/i\u003e and currently as a freelance writer. His foreign postings for \u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e include Hong Kong, Beijing, Paris, and Berlin. He has written ten books and articles for numerous publications, including \u003ci\u003eThe New York Review of Books, The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, The Wall Street Journal, \u003c\/i\u003e and others. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Knopf Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50895277588754,"sku":"9780805243673","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_bc07b284-1879-40c1-9c0a-f6e758ad96c9.jpg?v=1738269247","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/only-in-america-al-jolson-and-the-jazz-singer-9780805243673","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}