The Wonders of America: Reinventing Jewish Culture 1880-1950

The selective relish with which most American Jews affirm their identity - consuming kosher delicacies once a year, extravagantly celebrating the bar mitzvahs of their sons and the weddings of their daughters has usually given rise to satire or consternation. The Wonders of America offers an alternative perspective, for this innovative social history of Jewish culture highlights the cultural ingenuity and adaptive genius of American Jewish life - from the end of the nineteenth century through the postwar period. Drawing on advertisements and etiquette manuals, sermons and surveys, Jenna Weissman Joselit offers a lively, mordant, and richly illustrated account of how American Jews created their distinctive culture.