Lawrence J. Epstein
{{short description|American author|bot=PearBOT 5}}
Lawrence Jeffrey Epstein (born 1946) is an American author who writes and lectures about American culture and society, Jewish life, and mystery fiction. He is best known for his book The Haunted Smile: The Story of Jewish Comedians in America and his Danny Ryle Mysteries series. He writes intermittently about Bob Dylan and popular culture for The Best American Poetry blog.{{cite web |title=Larry Epstein's Culture Watch on The Best American Poetry |url=https://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/larry-epsteins-culture-watch/ |website=The Best American Poetry}}
Biography
Epstein was born in New York City and raised there and in Sag Harbor, New York. His father was a merchant and Veterans’ Counselor. His mother was a photographer and housewife. He got a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. from the University at Albany. From 1974 until 2008 he was a professor of English at Suffolk County Community College, where he also held jobs as assistant head of the Department of English and chairperson of the Humanities Division.
In an interview, Epstein described his intentions for The Haunted Smile: “I wanted to tell the story of Jewish comedians in America starting at the turn of the 20th century…Then I traced the history of the comedians through vaudeville, radio, movies, and tv…I was interested, for example, in how one generation of comedians influenced another. I got to go to a Friars Roast and go backstage at a comedy club. I also interviewed more than 70 people…I wanted to include the struggles Jewish comedians had, and the weight of their past.” {{cite web | url= http://www.caksociety.com/epstein.html | title= Caks Interview }}
Filmmaker Michael J. Epstein is his son.
In 2018, he started publishing The Danny Ryle Mysteries, including the titles: At the end of 2018 he began to publish his most successful mystery series. The books in the series include: The Dead Don’t Talk, A Darker Shade of Blood, The Starry Night of Death, and The Hunted Girl.
Bibliography
- {{cite book| author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=Samuel Goldwyn| publisher=Twayne Publishers| year=1981| isbn=0805792821| url=https://archive.org/details/samuelgoldwyn0000epst}}
- {{cite book| author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=A Treasury of Jewish Anecdotes| publisher=Jason Aronson| year=1989| isbn=0876688903| url=https://archive.org/details/treasuryofjewish00epst}}
- {{cite book| author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=The Haunted Smile: The Story of Jewish Comedians in America| publisher=PublicAffairs| year=2001| isbn=1586481622| url=https://archive.org/details/hauntedsmile00lawr}}
- {{cite book| author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=Mixed Nuts: America's Love Affair With Comedy Teams From Burns and Allen to Belushi and Aykroyd| publisher=PublicAffairs| year=2004| isbn=1586481908| url=https://archive.org/details/mixednutsamerica0000epst}}
- {{cite book | author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=At the Edge of a Dream: The Story of Jewish Immigrants on New York's Lower East Side, 1880-1920| publisher= Jossey-Bass| year=2007 | isbn=978-0787986223 }}
- {{cite book | author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=Political Folk Music in America from Its Origins to Bob Dylan| publisher= McFarland| year=2010 | isbn=9780786448623}}
- {{cite book | author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=George Burns: An American Life| publisher= McFarland| year=2011 | isbn=9780786458493}}
- {{cite book | author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=The Land of Eighteen Dreams| publisher= BookLocker| year=2012 | isbn=9781614348726}}
- {{cite book | author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=The Basic Beliefs of Judaism: A Twenty-first-Century Guide to a Timeless Tradition| publisher= Jason Aronson| year=2013 | isbn=978-0765709691}}
- {{cite book | author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=The Gallery of Missing Husbands| publisher= BookBaby| year=2016 | asin=B01GQFFCUA}}
- {{cite book | author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=Exiles: A Mystery in Paris| publisher= BookBaby| year=2017 | asin=B01N95U9UL}}
- {{cite book | author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=Americans and the Birth of Israel| publisher= Rowman & Littlefield| year=2017 | isbn=978-1442271227}}
- {{cite book | author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=Chaos: A Tale of Murder and Conspiracy| publisher= Fig Hollow Publishing| year=2017 | asin=B071VDK6Z3}}
- {{cite book | author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=Back to Life: A Hollywood Historical Mystery Novel| publisher= Fig Hollow Publishing| year=2017 | asin=B0747PKM1F}}
- {{cite book | author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=Thou Shalt Not Kill Twice| publisher= Fig Hollow Publishing| year=2017 | asin=B07774M1G3}}
- {{cite book | author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=Should I Convert to Judaism?| publisher= Fig Hollow Publishing| year=2018 | asin=B079NSKRTR}}
- {{cite book | author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=The Zero Commandment| publisher= Fig Hollow Publishing| year=2018 | asin=B079WS2LD3}}
- {{cite book | author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=Targets| publisher= Fig Hollow Publishing| year=2018 | asin=B07F9FMMN6}}
- {{cite book | author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=The Dead Don't Talk| publisher= Fig Hollow Publishing| year=2018 | asin=B07LF13Y3G}}
- {{cite book | author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=A Darker Shade of Blood| publisher= Fig Hollow Publishing| year=2019 | asin=B07PBHCD6G}}
- {{cite book | author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=The Starry Night of Death| publisher= Fig Hollow Publishing| year=2019 | asin=B07RJ8C5TN}}
- {{cite book | author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=The Hunted Girl | publisher= Fig Hollow Publishing| year=2019 | asin=B07TJZ9F4T}}
- {{cite book | author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=The Hidden Hand of Death | publisher= Fig Hollow Publishing| year=2020 | asin=B086T371T7}}
- {{cite book | author=Lawrence J. Epstein| title=The Dead Crawl Home | publisher= Fig Hollow Publishing| year=2020 | asin=B08KS7DSM9}}
References
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External links
- [http://www.lawrencejepstein.com Official Website]
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Category:American male biographers
Category:Writers from New York City
Category:People from Sag Harbor, New York