Norman Ravvin – författare

Arguing that Jewish North American writing is too commonly discussed as part of the mainstream, neglecting the Jewish aspects of the works, Ravvin places the writing of Bellow, Richler, Cohen, West, Mandel, Roth, and Rosenfarb within the Jewish context that the works demand. Ravvin depicts a Jewish cultural landscape within which postwar writers contend with community and identity, continuity and loss, and highlights the way this particular landscape is entangled with broader literary and cultural traditions. He considers Bellow and West alongside apocalyptic narratives, discusses Cohen in relation to the counterculture, examines Mandel''s postmodern view of history, and looks at autobiography and ethics in Roth and Rosenfarb. At once scholarly and poetic, A House of Words will appeal to the general reader of Canadian, American, and Jewish literature and history, as well as to specialists in these fields.

Failure''s Opposite presents a fresh perspective on Klein''s reception and legacy, exploring why he has remained a compelling figure for critics and readers. His experimentalism drew upon strong traditions and fluency in several languages - English, French, Yiddish, and Hebrew - allowing him to develop a multilingual, modernist Jewish voice that is a touchstone for understanding Canada''s multicultural identity. His struggle with the emotional and historical dimensions of diaspora is of considerable importance throughout his work and is investigated through the lenses of translation, voice, and his relationship to other Jewish writers. Contributors also re-evaluate Klein''s connection to Montreal and the original ways in which he captured the atmosphere of his "jargoning city." Failure''s Opposite reflects the many ways A.M. Klein is being remade in the twenty-first century, both as a bridge to the past and a model for contemporary critical and creative work in Canadian literature.