Tag: editing and words

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Born to Kvetch

Michael Wex’s Born to Kvetch: Yiddish Language and Culture in All of Its Moods is entertaining, informative, sometimes uncomfortable, and uneven. I’m glad to have read most of it and skimmed the rest.

Faint praise, huh? But it really wouldn’t be in the spirit of the book to praise it, now would it?

Wex ranges widely through Yiddish, covering life from birth to death, including everything in between and beyond. There’s usage, etymology, and culture. I particularly enjoyed chapters four, “Pigs, Poultry, and Pampers: The Religious Roots of Yiddish,” and five, “Discouraging Words: Yiddish and the Forces of Darkness.” The chapter on curses is pretty good, too.

Parts aren’t really written for a popular audience; part way through chapter three, Wex writes:

If you’ve never wondered about the difference between kugl and kigl or meshuge and meshige, the remainder of this chapter could prove a little heavy going. You might want to go on to Chapter Four and return to this section after reading the rest of the book.

And much of the reality of the world and way of life in which Yiddish evolved is harsh. Unsurprisingly (but no less uncomfortably), the Yiddish language and mindset reflects its birth in oppression.

Finally, the structure and pacing, in my opinion, could use a lot of work. And the author photo? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a worse one.

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Lil and Dottie

A very cleverly written article in Bookforum about Dorothy Parker’s bequest to the NAACP and her friendship with Lillian Hellman (via A&L Daily). It includes a fair sampling of Parker’s wit:

One of her neighbors, the writer Peter Feibleman, overheard her exchange words with another neighbor, a silly woman who began gushing over Campbell’s death and asking what she could get for her. “Get me a new husband,” Parker croaked. That was a “disgusting remark,” the woman replied. “Sorry,” said Dottie. “Then run down to the corner and get me a ham and cheese on rye and tell them to hold the mayo.”

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Singular They: The Pronoun That Came in from the Cold

Yet another entry into this cultural skirmish: The Vocabula Review — September 2003 — Singular They: The Pronoun That Came in from the Cold — jjoan ttaber altieri

“[N]ative speakers of English automatically rely on singular they (their, them) as the pronoun of choice.”

I prefer the commentary by another Quaker member of copyediting‑l, that people don’t seem to have any problem with singlular “you.”

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The state of critical reviewing

Poets & Writers Magazine has a great article on literary criticism.

Clearly, critics and authors share a deep desire to maintain a culture that values reading and writing. “In the best of all possible worlds,” says Caldwell, “we’re all on the same side–toward the greater good of the novel or the cultural dialogue, or whatever you want to call it. “And while, as many admit, they sometimes fall short, critics, like all writers, seem to take their vocation seriously.

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Rejection letters

Telegraph | Arts | However, thank you for your interest

But a book called Rotten Rejections, edited by Andr%uFF8E Bernard, makes you feel some pity for the people who sit in offices and make livings out of writers. For example, what is the correct response, on first looking into Gertrude Stein’s Ida? However lyrical and lapidary the work, you have to applaud the publisher who wrote back in Stein’s own voice: “Having only one life, I cannot read your MS three or four times. Not even one time. Only one look, only one look is enough. Hardly one copy would sell here. Hardly one. Hardly one.”