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y separately published work icon Too Many Men single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 1999... 1999 Too Many Men
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Ruth Rothwax, a successful, independent, New York woman with her own business, Rothwax Correspondence, can find order and meaning in the words she writes for other people - condolence letters, thank-you letters, even you-were-great-in-bed letters. But as the devoted daughter of Edek Rothwax, an Auschwitz survivor with a somewhat idiosyncratic approach to the English language, Ruth can find no words to help her understand the loss her family experienced during World War II. Ruth is obsessed with the idea of returning to Poland with her father, Edek, but she doesn't quite understand why she feels this so intensely. To make sense of her family's past - and the way her parents' lives were suddenly torn apart by the Nazis - yes. To visit the places where her beloved mother and father lived and almost died, certainly. But there's more to this trip than Ruth's extraordinary perceptiveness can identify. By facing Poland and the past, she can confront her own future.' (Publisher's blurb)

Exhibitions

17261421
17024156
23056197
18667821

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      William Morrow ,
      2001 .
      image of person or book cover 1090429479089321336.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 531p.
      ISBN: 0688177557 (acid-free paper)
    • Toronto, Ontario,
      c
      Canada,
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Harper Perennial ,
      2001 .
      image of person or book cover 869633038312904544.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 531p.p.
      ISBN: 9780006392187, 0006392180
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Harper Perennial ,
      2002 .
      image of person or book cover 340024721140029992.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 531p.
      ISBN: 0060084448, 9780060084448 (pbk.)
    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Penguin , 2015 .
      image of person or book cover 8107190870050145439.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 544p.
      Note/s:
      • Published : 25 March 2015
      ISBN: 9780143572503
Alternative title: Zu Viele Manner
Language: German
    • Vienna,
      c
      Austria,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Deuticke Verlag ,
      ca. 2001 .
      image of person or book cover 8159115479532039243.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 655p., 22cm.p.
      Edition info: Deutsche Erstausgabe
      ISBN: 3216305082
    • Frankfurt am Main,
      c
      Germany,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Büchergilde Gutenberg ,
      2001 .
      image of person or book cover 7622210374402924158.png
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 655 p. ; 23 cmp.
      ISBN: 3763250981
    • Frankfurt am Main,
      c
      Germany,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Suhrkamp ,
      2002 .
      image of person or book cover 5688505787166549092.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 655 p. ; 19 cmp.
      Reprinted: 2013 , 2015
      Note/s:
      • Reprint of 2001 edition.
      ISBN: 3518398741
    • Zurich,
      c
      Switzerland,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Diana Verlag ,
      2003 .
      image of person or book cover 1346841932308647718.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 750 p. ; 19 cmp.
      Note/s:
      • Reprint of 2001 edition.
      ISBN: 3453212584
    • Frankfurt am Main,
      c
      Germany,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Suhrkamp ,
      2004 .
      image of person or book cover 2545689404726358202.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 654p.p.
      ISBN: 9783518455869, 3518455869
    • Frankfurt am Main,
      c
      Germany,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Suhrkamp ,
      2008 .
      image of person or book cover 7729468357622026162.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 655 p. ; 19 cmp.
      ISBN: 9783518460139

Works about this Work

Objects of Return Marianne Hirsch , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: After Testimony: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Holocaust Narrative for the Future 2012; (p. 198-220)
Includes discussion of Bracha Lichtenberg-Ettinger (1948- ) and Palestinian author Ghassān Kanafānī, (1936-1972) .
Europe and its ‘Ends’. Haunting (by) the Past in Christos Tsiolkas’ Dead Europe Marilena Parlati , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of the European Association for Studies on Australia , vol. 2 no. 2 2011; (p. 42-52)
'This paper aims at attempting an analysis, by force partial, of white Europe as such a metaphor in the light of recent critical work on whiteness within a European context. Quite obviously, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 strongly impacted upon the numerous and often conflicting discourses related to the construction and reconstruction of global and European identities which followed that momentuous event; I refer here to the lacunar mythical roots Luisa Passerini finds in the idea of Europe itself (2002), to the shadows of the Shoah, but also to studies of European post-socialism in its unpredictable and still underrated connections with post-colonialism and the aftermath (and vampiric debris) of the Cold War.' Marilena Parlati.
Traces of Trauma: Loss and Longing in Too Many Men Shannon Dowling , 2007 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 6 no. 1 2007; (p. 79-90)
'In both her fiction and autobiographical essays, author Lily Brett describes the process of travelling 'home' to Poland as an adult child of Holocaust survivors. In a close reading of her novel Too Many Men, I will discuss the contemporary concern with returning to the 'past' for a sense of contemporary 'self' represented in this novel. In Too Many Men the protagonist Ruth journeys to Poland with her father, visiting the sites of his former life and the places of his family's destruction. However, the journey represents very different things for these two characters. Sites of memory, 'simulation' and the 'trace' are key ideas adopted in this reading.' (JASAL abstract)
Poland Lily Brett , 2002 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Between Mexico and Poland 2002; (p. 345-442)
Too Many Men Liz Doran , 2002 single work review
— Appears in: Geelong Small Press Publishing 2002;

— Review of Too Many Men Lily Brett , 1999 single work novel
Awash with the Holocaust Kevin Brophy , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , July no. 212 1999; (p. 27-28)

— Review of Too Many Men Lily Brett , 1999 single work novel
Unspeakably Wonderful Cath Kenneally , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 31 July-1 August 1999; (p. 13)

— Review of Too Many Men Lily Brett , 1999 single work novel
Discovering that Life is Beautiful Janet Chimonyo , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 31 July 1999; (p. 9)

— Review of Too Many Men Lily Brett , 1999 single work novel
Too Many Ghosts A. P. Riemer , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 7 August 1999; (p. 9)

— Review of Too Many Men Lily Brett , 1999 single work novel
Long Book's Journey into Right Mary-Rose MacColl , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 14 August 1999; (p. 7)

— Review of Too Many Men Lily Brett , 1999 single work novel
Poland Lily Brett , 2002 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Between Mexico and Poland 2002; (p. 345-442)
Traces of Trauma: Loss and Longing in Too Many Men Shannon Dowling , 2007 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 6 no. 1 2007; (p. 79-90)
'In both her fiction and autobiographical essays, author Lily Brett describes the process of travelling 'home' to Poland as an adult child of Holocaust survivors. In a close reading of her novel Too Many Men, I will discuss the contemporary concern with returning to the 'past' for a sense of contemporary 'self' represented in this novel. In Too Many Men the protagonist Ruth journeys to Poland with her father, visiting the sites of his former life and the places of his family's destruction. However, the journey represents very different things for these two characters. Sites of memory, 'simulation' and the 'trace' are key ideas adopted in this reading.' (JASAL abstract)
Europe and its ‘Ends’. Haunting (by) the Past in Christos Tsiolkas’ Dead Europe Marilena Parlati , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of the European Association for Studies on Australia , vol. 2 no. 2 2011; (p. 42-52)
'This paper aims at attempting an analysis, by force partial, of white Europe as such a metaphor in the light of recent critical work on whiteness within a European context. Quite obviously, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 strongly impacted upon the numerous and often conflicting discourses related to the construction and reconstruction of global and European identities which followed that momentuous event; I refer here to the lacunar mythical roots Luisa Passerini finds in the idea of Europe itself (2002), to the shadows of the Shoah, but also to studies of European post-socialism in its unpredictable and still underrated connections with post-colonialism and the aftermath (and vampiric debris) of the Cold War.' Marilena Parlati.
Objects of Return Marianne Hirsch , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: After Testimony: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Holocaust Narrative for the Future 2012; (p. 198-220)
Includes discussion of Bracha Lichtenberg-Ettinger (1948- ) and Palestinian author Ghassān Kanafānī, (1936-1972) .
A Pounding Heart Jane Sullivan , 2000 single work biography
— Appears in: The Age , 27 May 2000; (p. 6)
Last amended 13 Jul 2021 13:16:24
Subjects:
  • c
    United States of America (USA),
    c
    Americas,
  • c
    Poland,
    c
    Eastern Europe, Europe,
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