turrean's review against another edition
4.0
A spectacular slice of history. I loved it--the letters were funny, heartbreaking, thought-provoking, and whimsical in turn.
Drawbacks: I found the pale blue lettering on white pages very difficult to read. I see why it was chosen--the blue separates the editor's responses and the narrator's interactions with his "ghost"--but it was tough on the eyes. I also found some of the artistic choices hard to understand--the shape of the editor's head;the form of the angel of death; the occasional inclusion of blue elements in a black-and-white section of the book.
Drawbacks: I found the pale blue lettering on white pages very difficult to read. I see why it was chosen--the blue separates the editor's responses and the narrator's interactions with his "ghost"--but it was tough on the eyes. I also found some of the artistic choices hard to understand--the shape of the editor's head;the form of the angel of death; the occasional inclusion of blue elements in a black-and-white section of the book.
theinkwyrm's review against another edition
4.0
I forgot to write this review yesterday when I finished it, but I really enjoyed this. I’ve seen other reviews that say that this is much too simplistic for what the newspaper was actually about, but I thought it was a nice introduction to something I didn’t know anything about before and made me interested to learn more about it.
therainbowshelf's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I found this while looking for immigrant experiences books for work, and thought it was a super interesting read. It’s filled with abridged letters from Jewish immigrants / first generation Jewish Americans from a Yiddish-language newspaper in the early 1900s and the help column’s responses. I wish the explanation and history wasn’t in the back of the book, but I learned some cool Jewish history to surprise my Jewish family with.
radclyffe_uhaul's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
5.0
https://bookshop.org/shop/hcpunion
Content Warnings
Minor: Abandonment, Death of parent, and Death
kbrsuperstar's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
5.0
I am honestly a bit stunned by how emotional this book got me! I thought it was just going to be a fun little comic about old timey Lower East Side but it got me big-time verklempt multiple times and now I kind of want to read the original letters this was based on.
ljrinaldi's review against another edition
3.0
I picked this book up because I like sequential art (graphic novels), and it was about something I had no knowledge, a jewish (yiddish) advice column written at the turn of the last century.
Will Eisner, famous for The Spirit, also wrote several books about New York at the turn of the 19th to 20th century. If you have read those, or The Pushcart Wars, or Cheaper by the Dozen, you know a little about that time period, of the immigrants coming from the old country, and trying to make and find their place in America. New York held worlds of people, the Italians, the Germans, the Jews, all with their little community, and their own newspaper, and their own lives.
Apparently one such paper was called The Forward, and there was an advice column called the Bintel Brief. This was like any advice column, but the letters are unlike any you might find in the papers today. These told of old world and new world trying to mix together. Apparently there is a whole book translating these letters. This is not that book.
What this book is is the adoption of some of the letters, illustrated, and wrapped around with a narrative of how the ghost of the original editor comes back to read the letters to the cartoonist, and remark on how things have changed in New York. Unfortunately, this wrapping was the weakest part of the book.
So, that is the reason that this only gets three stars. It is a cool concept, and I enjoyed reading the letters, but found the in-between story not quite as interesting. Pick it up for that, enjoy these stories, and perhaps seek out the original volume A Bintel Brief edited by Isaac Metzker, of which I believe, there are two volumes.
Will Eisner, famous for The Spirit, also wrote several books about New York at the turn of the 19th to 20th century. If you have read those, or The Pushcart Wars, or Cheaper by the Dozen, you know a little about that time period, of the immigrants coming from the old country, and trying to make and find their place in America. New York held worlds of people, the Italians, the Germans, the Jews, all with their little community, and their own newspaper, and their own lives.
Apparently one such paper was called The Forward, and there was an advice column called the Bintel Brief. This was like any advice column, but the letters are unlike any you might find in the papers today. These told of old world and new world trying to mix together. Apparently there is a whole book translating these letters. This is not that book.
What this book is is the adoption of some of the letters, illustrated, and wrapped around with a narrative of how the ghost of the original editor comes back to read the letters to the cartoonist, and remark on how things have changed in New York. Unfortunately, this wrapping was the weakest part of the book.
So, that is the reason that this only gets three stars. It is a cool concept, and I enjoyed reading the letters, but found the in-between story not quite as interesting. Pick it up for that, enjoy these stories, and perhaps seek out the original volume A Bintel Brief edited by Isaac Metzker, of which I believe, there are two volumes.
toddtyrtle's review against another edition
4.0
Beautiful story, beautiful illustrations. Devoured in just a day.
muffmacguff's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
I loved this! It was thoughtful and melancholy, tangling with modern Yiddishists’s occasional romanticizing of the old Jewish world. It was also very cool to read a book all about beginning to explore some history and fumbling and losing track of it, then with an endnote about how to learn more on your own! It was a fast read but hits deep.
oceanelle's review against another edition
3.0
a sweet story for people who love letters, new york city, immigrant stories, or all three. i really appreciated how the author's whimsical tone matched perfectly with the artwork.