HANUKKAH LIGHTS Vol. 2

Christmas can often be an awkward and alienating time for American Jews. Hanukkah pales under the light of the Christmas tree to a point that many people refer to it as the "Jewish Christmas." Here is a collection of four stories and a poem that, rather than shyly avoiding the comparison, dives right into it. Elliott Gould, John Rubinstein, and Amanda Karr each read stories that capture the isolation, confusion, and irony surrounding the modern observance of Hanukkah, with perhaps the best performance being Melissa Manchester's reading of Grace Paley's "The Loudest Voice," about a little Jewish girl performing proudly in her school's Christmas pageant. Setting the tone, the audiobook opens with Theodore Bikel's wonderful reading of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" in Yiddish, which alone is worth the price of the tape! S.E.S. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/JAN 01]