Cynthia Ozick’s Comic Art: From Levity to Liturgy

Cohen has succeeded in showing a fusion of Ozick’s writing as sacred and comic. Defining humor broadly, Cohen persuasively argues that levity and liturgy are natural companions, enriching each other, especially in the creative imagination of Cynthia Ozick. -Midstream

… a thoughtful introduction to a monumental though underrated writer. -SHOFAR

This study is a welcome addition to the growing body of scholarly criticism of Ozick and focuses on her comedic style. -Choice

Cohen has written an important … book, one that celebrates Ozick’s ‘liturgical laughter,’ emphasizing on every occasion the connection between the comic and the sacred. It is a connection we should be reminded of often. -Belles Lettres

Cohen’s readings of these stories reveal their many levels and meanings in a language as acute and perceptive as that of Ozick herself. -St. Louis Post-Dispatch Magazine

In presenting Ozick as a ‘comedian of ideas,’ Sarah Blacher Cohen has raised the study of Ozick to a new level. -Alan L. Berger

[Cohen] understands Ozick’s hybrid conception of human nature, her realization that the secret source of humor is not joy but sorrow and that the ironic mode … is the best way of telling the truth. -Daniel Walden