Yiddish for Pirates

By: Gary Barwin

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

Winner of the $15,000 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour

Shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and nominated for the Governor-General's Award for Literature, a hilarious, swashbuckling yet powerful tale of pirates, buried treasure, and a search for the Fountain of Youth, told in the ribald, philosophical voice of a 500-year-old Jewish parrot.

Set in the years around 1492, Yiddish for Pirates recounts the compelling story of Moishe, a Bar Mitzvah boy who leaves home to join a ship's crew, where he meets Aaron, the polyglot parrot who becomes his near-constant companion.

From a present-day Florida nursing home, this wisecracking yet poetic bird guides us through a world of pirate ships, Yiddish jokes, and treasure maps. But Inquisition Spain is a dangerous time to be Jewish and Moishe joins a band of hidden Jews trying to preserve some forbidden books. He falls in love with a young woman, Sarah; though they are separated by circumstance, Moishe's wanderings are motivated as much by their connection as by his quest for loot and freedom. When all Jews are expelled from Spain, Moishe travels to the Caribbean with the ambitious Christopher Columbus, a self-made man who loves his creator. Moishe eventually becomes a pirate and seeks revenge on the Spanish while seeking the ultimate booty: the Fountain of Youth.

This outstanding New Face of Fiction is filled with Jewish takes on classic pirate tales - fights, prison escapes, and exploits on the high seas - but it's also a tender love story, between Moishe and Sarah, and between Aaron and his "shoulder", Moishe. Rich with puns, colorful language, post-colonial satire, and Kabbalistic hijinks, Yiddish for Pirates is also a compelling examination of mortality, memory, identity, and persecution from one of this country's most talented writers.

©2016 Gary Barwin (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

In the end is the beginning.

Are you an altacocker? if you know you should enjoy this story. I did. At least half the pleasure is the yiddish. A pirate theme is the perfect context for the "colorful" nature of yiddish. This is a book you give to others - altacockers like yourself. Baruch Hashem.

Wonderful

Like going to bed with The Marx Brothers! Keep replaying to savor the use of language and nuance.

Delicious

A swashbuckling tale of history, philosophy, language, humanity, survival, humor. i loved every minute. Great narration.

Vunderlech!

A great story that moves along zeyer shnel. Full of Yiddish but entirely understandable for non speakers of the mama loshen. Outstanding narration by Peter Berkot. Vile dank!

Disappointing material and performance

Oy gevalt. I don’t usually give negative reviews, but this audio book is bad enough I want to be a mensch and warn people that both the material and the audio performance are terrible. So bad, I’m not even going to finish it. Not worth my time, or gelt.