Contents

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Acknowledgments ix
4. Note on Orthography and Transliteration xiii
5. Introduction 1
6. 1. How the Wise Men Got to Gotham 9
7. 2. How Foolish Is Jewish Culture? 43
8. 3. Through the Land of Foolish Culture 60
9. 4. Gentile Fools Speaking Yiddish 77
10. 5. The Enlightenment Goes East 112
11. 6. The Geography of Folly 150
12. 7. Chelm Tales after World War One in German and Yiddish 188
13. Epilogue. 213
14. Notes 223
15. Bibliography 261
16. Index 295
17. About the Author 317