Download or read book The Haunted Smile written by Lawrence J. Epstein and published by Public Affairs. This book was released on 2001 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It has been estimated that although Jews comprise only three percent of Americans, over 80% of comedians are Jewish. A specialist in American Jewish life, Epstein (English, Suffolk Community College) argues that Jewish comedy is tinged by bitter encounters with anti-Semitism, a desire to be accepted, and concern for a culture disappearing at the same time it draws on a long tradition of Jewish humor. c. Book News Inc.