Thanks to Adolph Hitler and acculturation, the rich corpus of Yiddish literature is unavailable to most readers. Although some of his work has been translated, David Bergelson is largely
unknown. Sherman (Yiddish studies, Oxford) and Estraikh (Yiddish studies, New York University) seek to remedy this in their compendium of Bergelson's life and studies of his work. Born in the
Ukraine, Bergelson grew up in Tsarist Russia and was a supporter of the Revolution. He then moved to Berlin until the rise of the Nazis. After spending some time in New York, he elected to
return to Russia, where he spent the war. His contacts in America made him suspect in Cold War Moscow and he was arrested for subversive activity and shot in 1952. Throughout this tumultuous
existence Bergelson wrote brilliant fiction. The book includes a complete bibliography in Yiddish and English. A remembrance by Bergelson's son, now a respected scientist, is particularly
touching. Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co. Annotation 穢2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
