"I don't want a niche – I want an empire!" – Michael Wex, Globe and Mail
Below you will find Michael Wex's author questionnaire he completed for the Jewish Book Council.
What’s your favorite quotation?
“Are you coming out of that bathroom sometime today?” (My father)
What’s the best single piece of advice about writing that you’ve ever gotten?
Get a big wastebasket and don’t be afraid to use it (I read this in an interview with Isaac Bashevis Singer).
What would you say are the best and worst aspects of the job?
The best aspect is being able to spend all day writing; the worst, the fact that you have to spend all day writing—it’s rewarding, but it’s never easy.
What would you be doing if you weren’t a writer?
Teaching English literature or working in comedy clubs (both of which I used to do).
Earlier this month Wex was interviewed about How to Be a Mentsh (and Not a Shmuck) by David Green, editor of Haaretz newspaper's Books section. It has just been published as part of Haaretz's November books supplement. The interview is reproduced in full below.
Scholar and popularizer of Yiddish, whose latest offering draws from two millennia of Jewish tradition to serve as a primer for being a mentsh
Michael Wex is the extraordinarily entertaining and no-less erudite scholar and popularizer of Yiddish who burst onto the scene in 2005 with “Born to Kvetch.” (more...)
Michael Wex at the Toronto Jewish Book Fair 2009
This week Wex is on the road again - for the final push in the Jewish Book Council tour.
If you're in Rockland County New York, Cherry Hill New Jersey, New Haven Connecticut, Rockville Maryland or Las Vegas Nevada you can come and see Wex talk live about How to Be a Mentsh and get yourself a signed copy (or three).
Ahead of his appearance in Connecticut the New Haven Advocate interviewed Wex about the book.
Advocate: What do I have to do to be a mentsh and not a shmuck?
Michael Wex: It’s pretty much a matter of considering other people. The classic formulation is one found in the Talmud, from a rabbi named Hillel: “If there’s something you hate when somebody else does it to you, don’t do it to other people.” Why did Hillel express this negatively? Why didn’t he just say, “Treat others the way you want them to treat you,” like Jesus did? The Jewish tradition has a relentlessly realistic view of human character. There’s no idealizing of it, no, “If we all try really hard, we’re all going to turn into Eagle Scouts.” That all ties in with this idea of being a mentsh. Working with what you hate allows you to respect the other person’s preferences.
You can read the whole article by Anna Beth Keim here: "The Mentsh Maker". To keep up with Wex's appearances across the US and Canada go to our Events page.
Yesterday Michael gave Bonnie Graham an interview about how to be a mentsh for Blog Talk Radio. You can listen to it by clicking on the player below (Wex's is the first part of the show - it's about half an hour).
Photo by Fernando Morales for the Globe and Mail
On the eve of the publication of How to Be a Mentsh (and Not a Shmuck) Sarah Hampson's interview with Michael Wex appears in the Globe and Mail. (more...)
