From Publishers Weekly
Fans of Alan King (Name-Dropping: The Life & Lies of Alan King), who died in May, will welcome this collection of over 75 reminiscences by Jews in the arts, politics, religion and sports, which Larry King conceived and organized. Although Alan doesn't contribute a piece, he does provide a succinct and perceptive introduction to each section. While some selections, such as those by Gene Wilder, Sid Caesar and Don Rickles, are too brief, the vast majority offer humorous, touching, informed and engaging perspectives on what it means to be born a Jew. Jerusalem Report contributor David Margolis laments the failure of his parents' generation to pass on a real knowledge of Judaism to their children. Faye Moskowitz (Her Face in the Mirror: Jewish Women on Mothers and Daughters) contributes a funny and moving portrait of her grandmother's magical powers as she kneaded challah or stirred a witch's brew of beets, sugar, garlic, salt, allspice and bay leaves into delicious sweet and sour borscht once a year. Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois congresswoman, explores how becoming an elected official made her more conscious of her Jewish identity. Appended are three eulogies given at King's funeral by Billy Crystal, Rick Moranis and Barbara Walters. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Some sleepless night, pick up this collection of short, sweet reminiscences; it's like an old friend whose many facets never cease to entertain and enlighten. The section "Life in the Jewish Family and Neighborhood" contains recollections from Susan Stamberg, Neil Sedaka, Alan Dershowitz, and others, hailing from Manhattan, Winnipeg, Brooklyn, and, of course, Brighton Beach, that fabled neighborhood of "old country" Jews. "Jew in a Non-Jewish World" contains Neil Simon (speaking of Brighton Beach) on persecution, recalling that "they let me live because I was a good softball player," and Lisa Solod, whose southern accent comes from growing up in the small, tight Jewish community in Morristown, Tennessee--"the proving ground for my life as a Jew." "Milestones and Holidays" includes Leslea Newman (another Brighton Beacher) recalling her bobbeh's (grandmother's) matzo ball soup for seder, served in the pot she inherited and uses today. Outstanding in "My Defining Moment" is Jamie Lee Curtis, who delineates the four major connections she, though raised essentially without religion (as she is raising her children, too), has made to her heritage. What with warmth, wisdom, and humor on hand throughout, this is a book you don't have to be Jewish to like--so enjoy. Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description
This rewarding book, which you'll want to pass on to family and friends, is the first of its kind. Until King undertook this project, no celebrity had ever before assembled a book about growing up Jewish that presents totally new writing by famous people, many of them entertainers themselves. Combining warmhearted humor with a prideful nostalgia, these essays discuss life in the Jewish family and neighborhood, being a Jew in a non-Jewish world, Jewish holidays, and discovering the essence of being Jewish. And so we savor the stories: Neil Sedaka on not becoming a cantor; Alan Dershowitz on seeking a rabbinical blessing for that new Brooklyn Dodger, Yakov Robinson; Susan Stamberg on learning that the entire world was not, in fact, Jewish; Jerry Stiller on the Jewish origins of his ambitions to become a comedian; Melissa Manchester on finding her way to the faith. In his foreword to the book, CNN's Larry King hails his much-missed departed friend, Alan. Alan King -- the beloved comic, actor, producer, author, philanthropist, and storyteller extraordinaire -- understood that humor helped the Jewish people survive dark times through the ages and that, in modern-day America, humor could wash away the barriers between Jews and non-Jews. As a final section in this book, Rick Moranis, Barbara Walters, and Billy Crystal recall the Alan King they knew so well and laughed with so often. Enjoy.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter One: From Manhattan to Allentown to Washington, DC Susan Stamberg For fourteen years, Susan Stamberg has been the cohost of National Public Radio's All Things Considered. She is an Edward R. Murrow Award winner and a Broadcasting Hall of Fame member. Growing up in Manhattan in the 1950s, I thought the whole world was Jewish. Well, my whole world was! Yes, my public school classes had a Despina Chilakis and a Diane Grimaldi. But mostly we were Levitt and Fortgang and Goldstein and company. Every weekend, my dad took us down to the Lower East Side for knishes at Schmulka Bernstein's (today it's Bernstein on Essex, a glatt kosher Chinese restaurant where the waiters wear little red silk yarmulkes with tassels). Or to Yonah Schimmel's. We were ethnic Jews more than observant ones. Still, I was sent to Temple Rodeph Sholem for confirmation classes. I found them most interesting. Until our teacher, Mr. Lear, decided to switch from Hebrew lessons to lessons in the rhumba. When I objected, I was called to the principal's office with my mother. I said I was there for language, not fancy footwork (I was much too earnest a child, I see now). Either they invited me to leave school, or I parted in protest -- I can't quite remember. My mother was mortified and, I suspect, a bit proud. So much for my formal Jewish education. It wasn't until I married Louis Collins Stamberg of Allentown, Pennsylvania, that I realized the world included rhumba dancers who were not Jewish...not to mention people with two left feet, people who thought Jews had horns, people who were deeply immersed in very different faiths and beliefs. My husband, growing up, knew just how many Jews there were in Allentown. His family belonged to the Reform temple and the Jewish country club. The Stambergs of Allentown were self-consciously Jewish. They knew they were in the minority, had neighbors who didn't like living near Jews, and practiced traditions that defined them as Jews in a town that didn't reflect those traditions back to them. Allentown was not New York. Neither is Washington, DC, where I've spent my adult life. Yonah Schimmel? Knishes? Stuffed derma? We don't have a single decent deli in our nation's capital! You can't buy a rye bread with any zest to it, let alone find pastrami that makes your mouth water just ordering it. Sometimes I wish the whole world was Jewish. Usually on weekends. At lunchtime. Copyright © 2004 by Alan King Productions and Bill Adler Books, Inc.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

This rewarding book, which you'll want to pass on to family and friends, is the first of its kind. Until King undertook this project, no celebrity had ever before assembled a book about growing up Jewish that presents totally new writing by famous people, many of them entertainers themselves. Combining warmhearted humor with a prideful nostalgia, these essays discuss life in the Jewish family and neighborhood, being a Jew in a non-Jewish world, Jewish holidays, and discovering the essence of being Jewish.

And so we savor the stories: Neil Sedaka on not becoming a cantor; Alan Dershowitz on seeking a rabbinical blessing for that new Brooklyn Dodger, Yakov Robinson; Susan Stamberg on learning that the entire world was not, in fact, Jewish; Jerry Stiller on the Jewish origins of his ambitions to become a comedian; Melissa Manchester on finding her way to the faith. In his foreword to the book, CNN's Larry King hails his much-missed departed friend, Alan.

Alan King -- the beloved comic, actor, producer, author, philanthropist, and storyteller extraordinaire -- understood that humor helped the Jewish people survive dark times through the ages and that, in modern-day America, humor could wash away the barriers between Jews and non-Jews. As a final section in this book, Rick Moranis, Barbara Walters, and Billy Crystal recall the Alan King they knew so well and laughed with so often. Enjoy.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Fans of Alan King (Name-Dropping: The Life & Lies of Alan King), who died in May, will welcome this collection of over 75 reminiscences by Jews in the arts, politics, religion and sports, which Larry King conceived and organized. Although Alan doesn't contribute a piece, he does provide a succinct and perceptive introduction to each section. While some selections, such as those by Gene Wilder, Sid Caesar and Don Rickles, are too brief, the vast majority offer humorous, touching, informed and engaging perspectives on what it means to be born a Jew. Jerusalem Report contributor David Margolis laments the failure of his parents' generation to pass on a real knowledge of Judaism to their children. Faye Moskowitz (Her Face in the Mirror: Jewish Women on Mothers and Daughters) contributes a funny and moving portrait of her grandmother's magical powers as she kneaded challah or stirred a witch's brew of beets, sugar, garlic, salt, allspice and bay leaves into delicious sweet and sour borscht once a year. Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois congresswoman, explores how becoming an elected official made her more conscious of her Jewish identity. Appended are three eulogies given at King's funeral by Billy Crystal, Rick Moranis and Barbara Walters. (Nov. 1) Forecast: This should be a popular Chanukah gift book, particularly for readers of King's generation. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal