Following the first volume that traced Lewisohn's life to 1934, this text portrays Lewisohn's last decades as an outspoken opponent of Nazi Germany, a leading promoter of Jewish resettlement in Palestine, and as one of the earliest voices advocating Jewish renewal in America.
Ludwig Lewisohn (1882-1955) was a literary scholar, poet, prolific novelist, and essayist. Despite earning both his B.A. and M.A. degrees by the age of nineteen and beginning work on his doctorate, his academic career was cut short when he was denied teaching positions because of his Jewish origins. In 1919, he became the editor of The Nation. In 1924 he moved to Paris where he maintained a literary, salon and encountered the great literary minds of the day: Gertrude Stein, Thomas Mann, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sigmund Freud, and many others. Lewisohn's fascinating life makes for lively reading as Melnick exposes the intellectual, emotional, and sensual sides of this Jewish literary figure.