Here, for the first time in one volume, is the Nobel prize winner's memoir of his youth in Poland, his emigration to America, and his many loves in both places. It consists of three previously published books: A Little Boy in Search of God, A Young Man in Search of Love, Lost in America, and a large and revealing autobiographical introduction, never before published, called "The Beginning." From early childhood in a Polish shtetl to his mid-thirties in New York, the master storyteller spins fascinating tales of his struggles and achievements. In the new piece, "The Beginning," Singer recalls his childhood education in cheder (Jewish elementary school), his earliest memories of his family, and the experience of growing up in the "court" of a Chassidic rabbi who was counselor, confidant, and judge for the whole community. The result is a wonderfully resonant memoir, a universe that is uniquely Singer's own, peopled by the characters of his youth -- family, teachers, lovers -- who live and breathe as only a great writer can make them. And by his most intriguing character: himself.
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