Jews Without Money and Uncle Moses: New York at the Turn of the Century.
Mike Gold and Sholem Asch were contemporaries but worlds apart. Gold, born on the Lower East Side in New York City was pure American while Asch remained a European whose concerns were more with the Jewish shtetl than the tenements of Gold's world. Their paths crossed, however, in the subjects of Gold's autobiographical novel, Jews Without Money and of the film, Uncle Moses, based on Asch's novel. While Gold's work is mainly anecdotal as opposed to the rather histrionic drama of the film, both examine the disparity between the old world and the new, the politics of strikes and socialism that were brewing at the time and both also celebrate the tremendous strength of the Jewish community. 5 pgs. 8 f/c. 2b.
