Through fiction, memoir, music, and art, this book offers a glimpse of the Catskills experience over a century and assesses its continuing impact on American culture. The book features contributions from such writers as Isaac Bashevis Singer and Vivian Gornick; and original contributions from historians, sociologists, and scholars of American and Judaic studies.

Introduction, by Phil Brown Part 1: History Jewish Farmers of the Catskills, by Abraham Lavender and Clarence Steinberg Hotels and the Holocaust, by Reuben Wallenrod The Catskills at the End of World War II, by Martin Boris Part 2: Boarding House, Bungalow, and Kuchalayn Life The Yearning Heifer, by Isaac Bashevis Singer Grine Felder--A Place in the Country, by Martin Boris Bingo by the Bungalow, by Thane Rosenbaum Bungalow Colony Life, by Irwin Richman Part 3: Hotel Life Dinner at the Rigi Kulm House, by Abraham Cahan Old Stock, by Hortense Calisher Young Workers in the Hotels, by Phil Brown The Pool, by Eileen Pollack Growing Up at Grossinger's, by Tania Grossinger Reflections on the Delmar Hotel and the Demise of the Catskills, by Jerry A. Jacobs Part 4: Entertainment Comics, Singers, and Tummlers, by Joey Adams (with Henry Tobias) The Social Director in the Adult Summer Camp, by Moss Hart The Casino, by Harvey Jacobs The Fine art of Mountain Tummling, by Joyce Wadler Shoot the Shtrudel to me Yudel--music and lyrics, by Henry Foner Part 5: Romance Miss Tevkin, by Abraham Cahan Forbidden Fruit, by Harvey Jacobs Amy Lourie, by Terry Kay Part 6: Religion Bungalow Summer, by Robert Eisenberg The Shul in Kaaterskill Falls, by Allegra Goodman Food Eating at the Hotel, by Sarah Sandberg The Catskills Remembered, by Vivian Gornick Bungalow, by Elizabeth Ehrlich

For those who once found respite from their usual activities in the Catskills, this collection of essays is a wonderful reminder. For everyone else, the book helps to provide a permanent record of an era that is a vital part of American Jewish History. -- Morton Teicher Jewish Advocate Phil Brown's new book... is Catskills gold, a rich collection of short stories, essays, excerpts of novels and memoirs, along with vintage photographs, menus, postcards, and song lyrics. More than a nostalgic album, the book is evocative, serious, literary, and fun, too. The Jewish Week A nostalgic pastiche of fiction, memoir, photography, art, postcards, menus, etc., celebrating Jewish resort life in the Catskills. Providence Journal (RI) A warm, witty and schmaltzy book. Newark Star-Ledger A gripping and powerful depiction of a traumatized and emergent community engaged in the pursuit of leisure. The fiction, essays and memoirs all share a dreamlike intensity of emotion and degree of detail that create the sense that the contributors are still revisiting the Catskills in their sleep and trying to describe it when they wake. National Post Brown has been the unofficial historian of this part of the Jewish-American experience, and this anthology... is a great look at the history of Catskill culture. Publishers Weekly Delightful. The Jerusalem Post Whether describing the history and landscape of the Catskill region, the culinary inventions, or the legendary entertainment, this anthology evokes all the flavors and memories of a bygone era. Brandeis Review Phil Brown's edited collection is a warm, charming, and valuable work. Much of the writing is simply gorgeous, a mixture of meticulously remembered details and the wisdom of the passing years. -- Paul Buhle Contemporary Sociology

Through fiction, memoir, music, and art, this book offers a glimpse of the Catskills experience over a century and assesses its continuing impact on American culture. The book features contributions from such writers as Isaac Bashevis Singer and Vivian Gornick; and original contributions from historians, sociologists, and scholars of American and Judaic studies.