Just Say Nu: Yiddish for Every Occasion (When English Just Won't Do)
Do you want to learn how to schmooze? Celebrated humorist Michael Wex will offer a sidesplitting crash course in speaking Yiddish to launch his eagerly anticipated new book, Just Say Nu: Yiddish for Every Occasion (When English Just Won't Do) - a This Is Not A Reading Series event presented by Pages Books & Magazines, H.B. Fenn and Company, The Ashkenaz Foundation and EYE WEEKLY.
Just Say Nu: From Michael Wex, author of the runaway bestseller Born to Kvetch: Yiddish Language and Culture In All Its Moods, comes a practical guide to using Yiddish words and expressions in everyday situations. In the tradition of such books as Henry Beard's Latin for all Occasions and Ben Schott's Schott's Original Miscellany, Michael Wex's new book, Just Say Nu: Yiddish For Every Occasion (When English Just Won't Do), is as useful as it is entertaining. Along with grammar to help readers put together a comprehensible sentence and avoid embarrassing mistakes, Wex explains the five most useful and richly expressive Yiddish words - shoyn, nu, epes, takeh, and nebakh - telling us what they mean, how and when to use them, and even how they can be used to conduct an entire conversation without anybody ever suspecting that you don't have the vaguest idea what anyone else is actually saying. Readers will learn how to schmooze their way through such activities as meeting and greeting; eating and drinking; praising and finding fault; committing crimes; going to singles bars; having sex; talking politics and talking trash.
Michael Wex is a novelist, playwright, lecturer, performer, and author of books on language and literature. Among his many books are the bestselling Born to Kvetch and The Adventures of Micah Mushmelon, Boy Talmudist. Wex is the creator of such performance pieces as Sex In Yiddish and God In Paris. Wex lives in Toronto.
The Ashkenaz Foundation is a community-based non-profit, charitable organization dedicated to fostering an increased awareness of Yiddish and Jewish culture through the arts. Through its biennial festival and an expanding slate of year-round programming, Ashkenaz showcases the work of leading contemporary artists working in all artistic disciplines. The 7th Ashkenaz Festival of New Yiddish Culture will take place from August 26 to September 1 at Harbourfront Centre and satellite venues.
