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Israel Zangwill Lot of 12 Audiobooks & Short Stories in 12 MP3 Audio CDs

Israel Zangwill 
(1864 - 1926)

Israel Zangwill (January 21, 1864 – August 1, 1926) was a British author at the forefront of cultural Zionism during the 19th century, and was a close associate of Theodor Herzl. He later rejected the search for a Jewish homeland in Palestine and became the prime thinker behind the territorial movement.

Children of the Ghetto
Read by Adrian Praetzellis
Running Time:15:17:39 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Genre(s): Culture & Heritage Fiction
In this 1892 novel of London's Jewish East End, Israel Zangwill sets the apparently irrational and decidedly indecorous religious practices of transplanted eastern European Jews against the forces of assimilation. Zangwill's knowledge of Yiddishkeit and skill in melodrama created a series of unforgettable vignettes that had a significant effect on the public perception of this much stigmatized immigrant group.

Cheating the Gallows
Read by SGA
Running Time:00:39:00 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Genre(s): Crime & Mystery Fiction, Short Stories
Truly gripping tale of disguises, heists, betrayal and love.

Ghetto Comedies
Read by Anthony Ogus
Running Time:12:17:15 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Genre(s): Humorous Fiction, Short Stories
A series of tales, poignant as well as comic, set in the Jewish East End of London by the writer known as the "Dickens of the ghetto"
Model of Sorrows Pt 1-2
Anglicization Pt 1-2
Jewish Trinity Pt 1-2
Sabbath Question Pt 1-3
Red Mark
Bearer of Burdens Pt 1-2
Luftmenschd
Tug of Love
Yiddish Hamlet Pt 1-2
The Conversions
Holy Wedlock
Eliijah's Goblet
The Hirelings
Samoobarona Pts 1-3

Grotesques and Fantasies
Read by Multiple Readers
Running Time:06:39:07 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Genre(s): Myths, Legends & Fairy Tales, Humorous Fiction
A set of often funny, sometimes tragic stories by Israel Zangwill. Most famous for his scathingly accurate portrayals of the Jewish ghetto, these stories have a wider stage, poking fun at social conventions and society itself, both high and low. The real and the fantastic collide to produce a world uniquely Zangwill's.

These are the tales of figures as diverse as a pantomime dragon, an excellent butler, a man living his life in the wrong order and a Jewish maiden who knows exactly what she is worth. Well observed and original, the satire is biting and the wit sparkling.
00 - Foreword
01 - The Semi-Sentimental Dragon
02 - An Honest Log-Roller
03 - A Tragi-Comedy of Creeds
04 - The Memory Clearing House
05 - Mated by a Waiter. Chapter I, Black and White
06 - Mated by a Waiter. Chapter II, A Difficult Opening
07 - Mated by a Waiter. Chapter III, The Queen Comes Into Play
08 - Mated by a Waiter. Chapter IV, The Winning Move
09 - The Principal Boy
10 - An Odd Life
11 - Cheating the Gallows
12 - Santa Claus
13 - A Rose of the Ghetto
14 - A Double-Barrelled Ghost
15 - Vagaries of a Viscount
16 - The Queen's Triplets
17 - A Successful Operation
18 - Flutter-Duck. Chapter I, Flutter-Duck in Feather
19 - Flutter-Duck. Chapter II, A Migratory Bird
20 - Flutter-Duck. Chapter III, Flight
21 - Flutter-Duck. Chapter IV, Poor Flutter-Duck

Stories by English Authors: London
Read by Kirsten Wever
Running Time:04:15:47 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Genre(s): General Fiction, Historical Fiction, Humorous Fiction
This book collects seven short stories by some of England's best turn-of-the-(last)-century's writers. The collection begins with the humor of J. M. Barrie, of Peter Pan fame. A later and equally humorous story is by Israel Zangwill, also widely known for his exposures of social and economic problems. The immensely popular Marie Corelli’s contribution is the last, and among the most moving.
01 - The Inconsiderate Waiter - J. M. Barrie
02 - The Black Poodle - Part 1 - F. Anstey
03 - The Black Poodle - Part 2 - F. Anstey
04 - That Brute Simmons - Arthur Morrison
05 - A Rose of the Ghetto - Israel Zangwill
06 - An Idyl of London - Beatrice Harraden
07 - The Omnibus - Quiller-Couch
08 - The Hired Baby - Marie Corelli

The Bachelors' Club
Read by Keith Salis
Running Time:09:41:49 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Genre(s): Humorous Fiction, Published 1800 -1900
The Bachelors' Club is a sanctuary for an elite group of London's unmarried men to gather. To qualify as a Bachelor, each had to undergo a strict background check to ensure that they were not only unmarried, but a zealot in the movement that held marriage to be an undue punishment...upon women. As our story goes, we learn many revealing things about these men's convictions and pasts, as well as insightful commentaries on life and society in 1890 that is markedly similar to today.

The Big Bow Mystery
Read by Adrian Praetzellis
Running Time:5:05:34 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Genre(s): Detective Fiction, Satire
It's a cold and foggy night in London. A man is horribly murdered in his bedroom, the door locked and bolted on the inside. Scotland Yard is stumped. Yet the seemingly unsolvable case has, as Inspector Grodman says, "one sublimely simple solution" that is revealed in a final chapter full of revelations and a shocking denouement. Detective fiction aficionados will be happy to learn that all the evidence to solve the case is provided. One of the earliest “locked room” mystery stories, The Big Bow Mystery is also a satire of late Victorian society.

The King of Schnorrers
Read by Adrian Praetzellis
Running Time:4:24:56 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Genre(s): General Fiction, Humorous Fiction
Manasseh da Costa, protagonist of this hilarious novel, is a schnorrer (beggar) who lives on the charitable contributions of the Jews of late 18th-century London. Manasseh is far from being a humble panhandler for, as every schnorrer knows, supporting the poor is a commandment from God (a mitzvah) not just a favour. And as the descendant of Portuguese Jews who had lived in England for many generations, Manasseh is the social superior of those newly arrived from Eastern Europe (Tedesco)—even his wealthy ‘patron’ Joseph Grobstock. The book concludes as the ever-audacious Manasseh strikes a blow for tolerance and understanding—while helping himself along the way.

The Melting Pot 
(Dramatic Reading)
Running Time:04:09:07 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Genre(s): Drama
Russian-Jew David Quixano has come to America after surviving a pogrom which has killed his family. He has written a symphony which embodies his vision of America as a melting pot, into which people from all the nations of the earth come, and "the great Alchemist melts and fuses them with his purging flame! Here shall they all unite to build the Republic of Man and the Kingdom of God." But old hatreds and old sins die hard....

Note: There are attitudes and terms in the play and the afterword that may be offensive to some listeners.
Cast List:
David Quixano: Tomas Peter
Vera Revendal: Lian Pang
Mendel Quixano: Mark Chulsky
Kathleen O'Reilly: Lydia
Herr Pappelmeister: David Olson
Frau Quixano: Availle
Quincy Davenport, Jr.: K. Adrian Stroet
Baron Revendal: John Burlinson
Baroness Revendal: Sonia
Settlement Servant: Charlotte Duckett
Narrator: ToddHW

The Old Maids' Club
Read by TriciaG
Running Time:09:30:39 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Genre(s): Humorous Fiction
Mathematics vs. poetry: Brainy and beautiful 17-year-old Lillie, determined to never marry, begins an Old Maids' Club, while patient young Lord Silverdale advises, observes, and writes appropriate poetry. Candidates for membership must be young, beautiful (and pledged to remain so), and have rejected at least one offer of marriage. The often humorous stories these young women share make up the bulk of the tale.

The Premier and the Painter
Read by Ruth Golding
Running Time:00:28:25 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Genre(s): General Fiction, Memoirs, Essays

The Woman Beater
Read by Alana Jordan
Running Time:00:50:35 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Genre(s): Short Stories
Excerpt from Chapter 1:
When John Lefolle met her, Cecilia was with her, and the first conversation was triangular. Cecilia fired most of the shots; she was a bouncing, rattling beauty, chock full of confidence and high spirits, except when asked to do the one thing she could do—sing! Then she became—quite genuinely—a nervous, hesitant, pale little thing. However, the suppliant hostess bore her off, and presently her rich contralto notes passed through the garden, adding to its passion and mystery, and through the open French windows, John could see her standing against the wall near the piano, her head thrown back, her eyes half-closed, her creamy throat swelling in the very abandonment of artistic ecstasy.
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Public Domain Books

A public-domain book is a book with no copyright, a book that was created without a license, or a book where its copyrights expired or have been forfeited.

In most countries the of copyright expires on the first day of January, 70 years after the death of the latest living author. The longest copyright term is in Mexico, which has life plus 100 years for all deaths since July 1928.

A notable exception is the United States, where every book and tale published before 1926 is in the public domain; American copyrights last for 95 years for books originally published between 1925 and 1978 if the copyright was properly registered and maintained.