Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #404965 in Books
• Published on: 2000-04-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

Customer Reviews

Still Funny After All These Years
Most of the stories in this very short and very funny book appeared in The New Yorker...almost 70 years ago(!)

Great humor is indeed timeless. I recently re-read this book. The other reviews listed here say it all.

It is impossible to read this book and not laugh out loud.

Anyone obsessed with Political Correctness should read this
Fentastik! My! such vonderful void? How is Kaplan tinking of such a void?
This book is absolutely great. Taking place entirely within the confines of an English class for prospective American citizens, it captures the essence of a remarkable generation of immigrants. Of course, this is not a sociology book. It is good-natured humor, and a good look at human nature. Anyone with a sense of humor will enjoy this book, and if you are any kind of linguist it is even better. The poor souls in the beginners class are characters for the ages, including, of course, the inimitable and irrepressible H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N. This book is warm and humorous with no ridicule or mean-spiritedness at all. If written today it might be characterized as belittling to immigrants, but anyone who reads it in its true spirit will find it enjoyable and uplifting.

The Genius of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N
Hyman Kaplan is a leader of men, an inspiring, eloquent orator with a true sense of drama. He forges his own paths, makes his own rules.

Unfortunately, those rules only rarely coincide with those of grammar, spelling and pronunciation. And so he eternally flunks the beginners' grade in English despite awing both friend and foe.

What moves me to write a review is what the other reviewers seem to miss: H*Y*M*A*N, for all his mistakes, is a winner of a character, not a loser. This book is true testimony to the talents of immigrants as well as their tribulations.