Two Jews on a Train: Stories from the Old Country and the New

by Adam Biro, Catherine Tihanyi (Translation)

"Two Jews were traveling on a train. . . . " Many Eastern European jokes—and several of the charming and often hilarious conversations in this book—begin this way. From all regions of the world and from all walks of life, the characters are young and full of life and old and ugly; they are rabbis, matchmakers, students, and immigrants. They gossip and speak about everything from the banalities of the world to the unspeakable evils of existence all for a single to laugh and to celebrate the good luck of being alive.

As Biro recounts these tales, we hear not only his voice and the voice of his father, but those of generations of storytellers who have used humor to teach about the truly important issues in life—the delicacy of love, the fragility of friendship, the pitfalls of self-righteousness, the costs of narrow-mindedness, and the unpredictability of life itself. Biro artfully spins each story, lingering on the details, guiding the reader to the inevitable—yet always unexpected—punchline.

Taken individually, these stories will make you laugh out loud; taken as a whole, they form an invaluable record of the sensibilities of an entire people. Biro "These Jewish stories of which not a single one happened to me, and of which I did not invent a single one, do describe me, do characterize me, do explain me. They are always my own story. And yours."

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Jewish, Religion, Humor

144 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2001

Reviews

[Daniel Sevitt]

Obviously with the two Jews finding each other on the trains, the journey is more important than the destination. In each of these extended shaggy dog tales featuring European Jews from the last 150 years, the telling is way more important than the punchlines which are of varying degrees of funny.

There is a familiarity to both the cadence and the content of these stories which may or may not be related to having heard the stories before. The voices are familiar, the shrugging acceptance of less than optimal circumstances, recognizable. The characters here wrestle with identity, good and bad fortune, even with God. Perfectly charming.

[Elias Mendel]

funny wry look at the joys and torments of the diaspora, from the schtetl to the golf course. occasionally steeped in some slightly eye rolling gender roles etc

a Jews home is the road

also a beautiful point about lovers not fighting the end of the world and accepting it

[Danny]

So smart and funny, rivaling even Sedaris, while given honest insight into Jewish culture, spiritual and social duty, and self-image. This is a great read!

[J.L. Steinmetz]

Helpful if you know some German, French, Hungarian and Yiddish, but wryly funny and tinged with melancholy in any case. A very erudite little book!

[Jj Burch]

Since this seems to be the week I am embracing my inner-Jewishness, this books feels like it's letting me in on a secret. Sometimes I didn't get the joke, but other times I laughed out loud. Cute and timely.

[Connie]

delightful

[Sadie]

Didn't hold my interest.

[May Koliander]

Great stories and a lot of humour.