Festival of Jewish Books & Authors - November16
Peter Manseau, Songs for the Butcher's Daughter
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November 16, 2009 • Mandel JCC • 1:00pm Peter Manseau, son of a Catholic priest and a nun, is perhaps best known for his best-selling book, Vows: A Story of a Priest, a Nun, and their Son which documents the Catholic priesthood and its struggles to balance tradition and modern life. Not as well known, but equally fascinating, is that Manseau, at the beginning of his career, worked at the National Yiddish Book Centre in the U.S. and was one of the very few young people working there who could speak and write in Yiddish. Now this doctoral candidate in religion at Georgetown University has written his debut novel, Songs for the Butcher's Daughter. Manseau uses his real-life experiences to narrate the story of a fictional Malpesh, a Moldovan poet who tells of his life through his memoirs. The poet comes to prominence when a set of bookkeeping ledgers is discovered in which Malpesh has written his life story. Working with a young American Catholic woman to translate his autobiography Malpesh's life unfolds and his life intersects with the young translator's in a vivid and utterly unexpected way. As one reviewer said, "Manseau's thrilling tale of secrets and revelations captures the diversity among Jews, then and now." Limited seating |
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