Book description
Acclaimed by literary critic Carl Van Doren as "the most important of all immigrant novels," The Rise of David Levinsky takes place amid America's biggest and most diverse Yiddish-speaking community during the early 20th century. David Levinsky, a young Hasidic Jew struggling to master the Talmud, seeks his fortune amidā¦
Why read it?
2 authors picked The Rise of David Levinsky as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Immigration has been (and is) one of the most important themes in US history, and this book (written in English by the editor of New York Cityās Yiddish newspaper at that time) is an engrossing story of the experience of a Russian Jewish immigrant, who fled pogroms in Russia to seek his fortune in America. It is a classic.
Early on David Levinsky, the immigrant Yeshiva boy, the budding intellectual, learns that America is the land of winners and losers, and if he is to be the former, he has to abandon his old self like the ear-locks he left on a barbershop floor in his first days in this new world. To be an alrightnik he must learn to dance the American dance. And dance he does, but his fabulous success as a garment manufacturer has left somethingĀ unresolved in himself. His search for love at a Jewish resort in the Poconos is a chapter better than anythingā¦
From Zeese's list on about borders you havenāt read.
If you love The Rise of David Levinsky...
December on 5C4
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa storiesāall reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argueā¦
Want books like The Rise of David Levinsky?
Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Rise of David Levinsky.
Share your top 3 reads of 2025!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
1,298
readers submitted
so far, will you?
š If you like The Rise of David Levinsky, you might also like...
Karl's War
Karl's War is a coming-of-age-meets-thriller set in Germany on the eve of Hitler coming to power. Karl ā a reluctant poster boy for the Nazis ā meets Jewish Ben and his world is up-turned.
Ben and his family flee to France. Karl joins the German army but deserts and findsā¦
Girl in the Ashes
Odette Lefebvre is a serial killer stalking the shadows of Nazi-occupied Paris and must confront both the evils of those she murders and the darkness of her own past.
This young woman's childhood trauma shapes her complex journey through World War II France, where she walks a razor's edgeā¦
