Simply put, reading Leo Liebermen is like going back home to Bubbe – revisiting a world of long-lost Yiddishkeit when all was warm and cozy and the shtetle still alive even here in America.

But you don't necessarily have to be Jewish to love "Memories of Laughter and Garlic." If you appreciate good writing, wit and wisdom – sprinkled with Yiddishisms reminiscent of Sholom Aleichem – this book is for you.

Lieberman consistently manages to keep things fresh — indeed, as if he'd gone back to Bubbe for more material.

But of course, it's Lieberman's world, a world some of us still remember with great fondness – and in case we forget – that's where Lieberman comes in, to bring it all back. If not for our Leo Liebermans, a significant portion of our cherished past would no longer even be a memory. For that reason, this collection is essential.

Lieberman's style is so deceptively simple that many readers probably don't know that this man is a professor – an intellectual, noch!

That, of course, is precisely Lieberman's gift – away with pretense and ostentation!

Some say that Yiddish, as a language, is dying out. Maybe yes, maybe no. But without question Yiddish inflections have enriched the English language. So if you need a translation of any Yiddish expression in this book, just flip to the back and check out Lieberman's "Glossary for the Yiddishly Challenged."

Anyway, the phrasing that turns English into Yiddish (or is it Yiddish into English?) comes up frequently in this work, as Lieberman has Mama say: "If your Papa had to chose between me and his checkers – better not ask!"

If forced to use one word to define this entire work, I'd go with "charm." I would not dare say that Lieberman's essays are vital in preserving Jewish heritage – are you kidding?

Tante Pesha would only laugh and say, "Such a big deal from my Leo? Ay yi yi!"

Jack Engelhard, Author
Indecent Proposal