Isaac [Bashevis Singer] sounds a theme that is fundamental to his views on writing: "A writer must have roots. The deeper a writer's roots, the greater his capacity for achievement…." (p. 30)

In the pages of [In My Father's Court] Isaac recounts anecdotes about [his father's beth din, a blend of court of law, synagogue, and house of study], along with other tales about his childhood in Warsaw, with typical economy and a fierce attention to physical detail. Never cluttered with historical notations or explanations, these episodes hold up the bright illumination of a modern understanding to the events of a vanished past…. Each episode is a self-contained unit with its own story line and denouement. For Isaac is above all a storyteller, never a mere reporter. Yet even where he has altered or reordered the events of his childhood in fashioning these miniatures, it is certain that they...