Vernon Katz

The Blue Salon and Other Follies vividly recounts the 1930s childhood of Vernon Katz in Lippe, Germany. Through the eyes of an observant young boy, the author reveals how Jewish life in a country town gradually eroded as the Nazis came to power. With a dry wit, the author recaptures his childhood and family life through light-hearted anecdotes and pictures, as well as dramatic events, including his mothers escapes from imprisonment and death by the Nazis. The title, The Blue Salon and Other Follies refers to the inability of Vernon Katzs parents in the early years of Nazi rule to comprehend the dangers that lie ahead. Rooted in German soil and having built a successful brush factory together, they think it is all a passing phase. Fifteen months after Hitlers rise to power, when a tribute to Vernon Katz father appears in a German business journal, his mother joyfully redecorates the house and creates the luxurious blue salon. When the Nuremberg Laws are enacted, the situation darkens. Vernon Katz, at age ten, is stoned, persecuted and terrified by his Nazi teachers. Ultimately, on Kristallnacht, the authors father is imprisoned at the Buchenwald concentration camp. The family doctor sends Mrs. Katz to a mental institution to protect her from the Gestapo. As the Nazis grow even more insidious, the family must take desperate measures to try to save themselves. The Blue Salon and Other Follies lovingly recreates small-town Jewish life in Germany before World War II and dramatically depicts the persecution, struggles and ultimate survival of one Jewish family. A literary gem and an unforgettable read,The Blue Salon and Other Follies will make you laugh and cry. It is a universal coming-of-age tale in which a boy fights adversity with courage and humor.

A Jewish Boyhood in 1930S' Rural Germany

The Blue Salon and Other Follies

Thomas Egenes

This new translation of The Upanishads is at once delightfully simple and rigorously learned, providing today’s readers with an accurate, accessible rendering of the core work of ancient Indian philosophy. The Upanishads are often considered the most important literature from ancient India. Yet many academic translators fail to capture the work’s philosophical and spiritual subtlety, while others convey its poetry at the cost of literal meaning. This new translation by Vernon Katz and Thomas Egenes fills the need for an Upanishads that is clear, simple, and insightful – yet remains faithful to the original Sanskrit. As Western Sanskrit scholars who have spent their lives immersed in meditative practice, Katz and Egenes offer a unique perspective in penetrating the depths of Eastern wisdom and expressing these insights in modern yet poetic language. Their historical introduction is suited to newcomers and experienced readers alike, providing the perfect entry to this unparalleled work.

Vernon Katz

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