Table of Contents
Preface ix
Writers Don't Write for the Drawer: An Introduction to the Essays of Isaac Bashevis Singer 1
The Literary Arts
The Satan of Our Time 19
Journalism and Literature 20
Why Literary Censorship Is Harmful 25
Who Needs Literature? 32
Old Truths and New Clichés 43
Storytelling and Literature 53
Literature for Children and Adults 64
Yiddish and Jewish Life
The Kabbalah and Modern Times 77
The Ten Commandments and Modern Critics 90
The Spirit of Judaism 99
Yiddish, the Language of Exile 108
Yiddish Theater Lives, Despite the Past 119
Yiddish and Jewishness 129
Personal Writings and Philosophy
A Trip to the Circus 147
Why I Write As I Do: The Philosophy and Definition of a Jewish Writer 154
A Personal Concept of Religion 168
A Story about a Collection of Stories 176
The Making of a First Book 179
To the True Protester 194
Singer the Editor: An Afterword on the Editorial Process 195
Acknowledgments 207
Notes 211
Bibliography 223
Index 227