September 11, 2006
Welcome to the second edition of Vekslblat – The Yiddish World of Michael Wex's monthly e-zine. If this is the first copy you have received, as a special gift to thank you for subscribing to this newsletter we would like to offer you a free copy of the e-book version of Wex’s classic The Kugel Story, a Jewish folktale for the 21st century. Please click here to download the e-book. This link has been disabled since the e-book is only available to Vekslblat subscribers.
This edition of Vekslblat includes news, website additions, interviews, articles, Wex's Kvetch of the Month and much more. Enjoy!
News
Bill Clinton buys Born to Kvetch!
The former US president Bill Clinton was in a Manhattan Barnes & Noble on August 24 to participate in a book signing. After the event Clinton browsed around the store and picked up a copy of Born to Kvetch, the cover of which apparently made him laugh out loud!
Read the full article online here.
Born to Kvetch is a New York Times bestseller once again
Where's Wex?
Lower prices and new products in the on-line store
With lower prices across the board and a recently expanded collection of designs and products, the on-line store is now bursting with all your Yiddish accessory needs. With Kvetch-related items for you, your kids, and even your dog, there's something for everyone! Click on the images above or the link here to see the new line-up.
Interviews
Latest interview with Wex (and Mrs Wex!) at KlezKanada
Our friends Keith and Renah Wolzinger interviewed both of us for a podcast at Klezkanada last month - click here to listen to this (very) informal interview.Wex's questionnaire for the Jewish Book Council
How did you get your start as a writer?
I didn’t start to write seriously until I was thirty, and did so strictly aftselakhis—in order to make someone angry. I was doing a lot of storytelling at the time and had been asked to prepare something “in the spirit of Isaac Babel’s Odessa stories” for a performance. The storyteller with whom I was supposed to be sharing the evening was so aghast at what I came up with that he threatened to withdraw if I performed it, and the sponsoring organization took his side. Furious, I sat down, invented and wrote up the silliest Jewish story I could think of—about a talking potato kugel. It went over so well that I began to think that I might be able to do this sort of thing. I wrote down an expanded version of the original, rejected material; together with The Kugel Story [this story is available free to Vekslblat subscribers] (which has since been anthologized a number of times), it became my first book, Shlepping the Exile.
What’s your favorite quotation?
“Are you coming out of that bathroom sometime today?” (My father)
What’s the best single piece of advice about writing that you’ve ever gotten?
Get a big wastebasket and don’t be afraid to use it (I read this in an interview with Isaac Bashevis Singer).
What would you say are the best and worst aspects of the job?
The best aspect is being able to spend all day writing; the worst, the fact that you have to spend all day writing—it’s rewarding, but it’s never easy.
What would you be doing if you weren’t a writer?
Teaching English literature or working in comedy clubs (both of which I used to do).
Articles
5. vos bay a nikhtern af der lung iz bay a shikern af der tsung - advice for Mel Gibson.
6. hakn a tshaynik - about the holidays.
For a guide to Yiddish pronunciation, click here .
The Yiddish World of Michael Wex recommends - KosherLamp
Have you seen the amazing new KosherLamp?
Now you can read
in bed on Friday night! Click on the pictures below for more information.
Direct the light, dim the light, and even “turn it off” for the night on
Shabbat . All according to Halacha and approved by major Poskim . No timers, no switches.
And Finally.....Wex’s Kvetch of the Month:
Look out for your next edition of Vekslblat in the first half of October! Gut yontef - a gut, gezunt un gebentsht yor to you and yours.