{"product_id":"simple-gimpl-the-definitive-bilingual-edition-9781632060389","title":"Simple Gimpl: The Definitive Bilingual Edition","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA gorgeously produced, bilingual edition of Nobel Prize laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer's canonical story--one of the most influential of the 20\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eth\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e century--about a hapless yet charmingly resilient baker named Gimpl, who resists taking revenge on the town that makes him the butt of every joke. Singer's original Yiddish appears alongside his own partial translation, now completed and edited by writer and scholar David Stromberg, and the 1953 translation by fellow Nobel laureate Saul Bellow. With illustrations by Liana Finck and an afterword by David Stromberg.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIsaac Bashevis Singer's \"Gimpl tam\" was published on March 30, 1945, in the obscure Yiddish-language journal \u003cem\u003eIdisher kempfer\u003c\/em\u003e, about a month before the Nazi surrender. A story of bullying and the potential for revenge, it tells the deathbed confession of an orphaned baker who is targeted by his own community for ridicule and practical jokes. Gimpl has come to be seen as a symbol of the Jewish people in the diaspora, and, by synecdoche, minorities in general. Should they be passive in the face of aggression? Or should they defend themselves? What role must the individual of that minority play when the pack behaves badly?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Irving Howe and Eliezer Greenberg opted to include \"Gimpl tam\" in their \u003cem\u003eTreasury of Yiddish Tales\u003c\/em\u003e, Howe asked Saul Bellow to help with the translation. It was finished in a single sitting and published in 1953 in \u003cem\u003eThe Partisan Review\u003c\/em\u003e as \"Gimpel the Fool\"--the version that has since been canonized as one of the fundamental stories of the twentieth century. Yet, unlike every other major work of Singer's published in his lifetime, the author had no involvement in the English translation. In 2006, Joseph Landis, editor of \u003cem\u003eYiddish\u003c\/em\u003e, published a draft play script titled \"Simple Gimpl,\" made by Singer directly from the Yiddish original--the closest extant rendition of the story in the author's own translation. Literary scholar David Stromberg has completed Singer's translation, allowing readers to see another dimension of the original. This definitive edition, a treat for literature lovers, features Singer's story in Yiddish along with the two English versions. Having them together shows Gimpl as anything but a fool--but rather someone accepting the complexity of his life and faith.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIsaac Bashevis Singer\u003c\/b\u003e (1904-1991) was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978. An immigrant from Poland, he arrived in New York following the steps of his older brother, Israel Joshua Singer. He wrote essays, stories, and other writings for the \u003ci\u003eForverts\u003c\/i\u003e, at times under pseudonym. Saul Bellow translated his story \"Gimpel the Fool,\" which heralded his talent for a young generation of American Jewish readers. For years Singer published his stories in \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, where he developed a distinct style. His numerous books include \u003ci\u003eSatan in Goray\u003c\/i\u003e (1935), \u003ci\u003eGimpel the Fool and Other Stories\u003c\/i\u003e (1957), \u003ci\u003eThe Magician of Lublin\u003c\/i\u003e (1960), \u003ci\u003eThe Slave\u003c\/i\u003e (1962), \u003ci\u003eThe Spinoza of Market Street\u003c\/i\u003e (1963), \u003ci\u003eA Friend of Kafka and Other Stories\u003c\/i\u003e (1970), \u003ci\u003eEnemies, a Love Story\u003c\/i\u003e (1972), \u003ci\u003eOld Love\u003c\/i\u003e (1979), and \u003ci\u003eShadows on the Hudson\u003c\/i\u003e (1997). His work has been translated into dozens of languages.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSaul Bellow\u003c\/b\u003e (1915 - 2005) was born of Russian Jewish parents in Lachine, Quebec, and was raised in Chicago. He received his bachelor's degree from Northwestern University in 1937. His novel \u003ci\u003eThe Adventures of Augie March\u003c\/i\u003e won the National Book Award for fiction in 1954. His further awards include the Pulitzer Prize for \u003ci\u003eHumboldt's Gift\u003c\/i\u003e (1975); the International Literary Prize for \u003ci\u003eHerzog\u003c\/i\u003e, for which he became the first American recipient; and the Croix de Chevalier des Arts et Lettres, the highest literary distinction awarded by France to non-citizens. In 1976, Bellow was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLiana Finck\u003c\/b\u003e is a regular contributor to \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, The Awl, and Catapult. She is a recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, and a Six Points Fellowship for Emerging Jewish Artists. She has had artist residencies with the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and \u003ci\u003eTablet\u003c\/i\u003e magazine. Her first book, \u003ci\u003eA Bintel Brief\u003c\/i\u003e, was published in 2014.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDavid Stromberg\u003c\/b\u003e, a writer, translator, and literary scholar, is editor for the Isaac Bashevis Singer Literary Trust. His books include \u003ci\u003eBaddies\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eIdiot Love and the Elements of Intimacy\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eA Short Inquiry into the End of the World\u003c\/i\u003e. He is the editor of \u003ci\u003eOld Truths and New Clichés: Essays by Isaac Bashevis Singer\u003c\/i\u003e (Princeton, 2022).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Restless Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50726866157842,"sku":"9781632060389","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_e55f0433-6b02-43a5-9e93-4ba8b13ac17f.jpg?v=1734886977","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/simple-gimpl-the-definitive-bilingual-edition-9781632060389","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}