Alva Review-Courier -

The Autumn 1956 edition of “The American Scholar” magazine listed 43 novels that literary experts had submitted as deserving more attention than they had received in the past 25 years.

The only novel mentioned more than once was “Call It Sleep,” Henry Roth’s story of a small Jewish immigrant boy trying to adjust to life in a poor New York City neighborhood.

The book’s mention in the journal caused increased interest in it by Jewish literary scholars and others. They read (or re-read) it and came to realize what a dynamic novel it was.

After having issued the book in 1934, Roth had published a...