The Education of Hyman Kaplan

Hyman Kaplan #1

by Leo Rosten

Leo Rosten wrote his first tale of Hyman Kaplan when he was 24 and it was published to great applause by the "New Yorker". Over the next two years the magazine ran all 15 of the original stories that were eventually published in 1937 as "The Education of Hyman Kaplan".

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Short Stories, Classics, Jewish, Judaica, American

97 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1937

About the author

Leo Calvin Rosten was born in Lodz, Russian Empire (now Poland) and died in New York City. He was a teacher and academic, but is best known as a humorist in the fields of scriptwriting, storywriting, journalism and Yiddish lexicography.

Reviews

[Brina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over at the Jewish book club here on Goodreads, the first theme of the year is Jewish humor. After the year we just had, I was telling my parents that we need more humor in our lives. Jewish comedians have provided me with many laughs over the years, from the Marx Brothers to Mel Brooks to Jerry Seinfeld, and all of the brilliant minds in between. I actually nominated Seinfeld’s book for this group read because he’s Jerry Seinfeld, enough said. The winning book ended up being a classic published eight four years ago by Leo Rosten, the author of The Joys of Yiddish. While not necessarily the type of laughs I had been seeking, I knew that with any classic Jewish humor, I would gain enough laugh out loud moments to last me awhile.

Leo Rosten needs little introduction. He authored one of the most famous Jewish humor books of all time, The Joys of Yiddish. What I did not know was that he was also a staff writer for the New Yorker during an era when Jews faced discrimination in finding jobs, even in New York. Over the course of a few years in the interwar 1930s, Rosten penned a column that featured new immigrant Hymen Kaplan. Kaplan was a brilliant man, it appeared he was educated in the fine arts or perhaps even the law in Poland; however, upon arriving in the United States, Mr Kaplan could not pronounce even the basic English sounds. He decides to enroll in the 1930s version of an ESL class for adults under the tutelage of one Mr Parkhill. What ensues throughout these columns turned book is a battle of wits, with Parkhill asserting his authority as the knowledgeable teacher against Kaplan’s lack of mastering any English sounds. In Parkhill’s mind, Mr Kaplan is last in this class although it is apparent that he possesses the sharpest mind in the class. He might not be able to speak as clearly as his rival Miss Bernick, but it is evident early on that Mr Kaplan is one of a kind.

Mr Kaplan signs his composition book in red, blue, and green crayon with the signature H*y*m*e*n K*a*p*l*a*n. He gives much thought to every assignment whether it’s spelling and vocabulary, composition, or speaking, always being the first to volunteer his opinions and corrections to the rest of the class. The issue he has despite living life with his original flare is that Mr Kaplan has yet to grasp the nuances of the English language. He pronounces it as though it was transliterated in his native Poland. Idioms are beyond his comprehension, and because Poland has a different alphabet and sounds than does England, he also has trouble differentiating between sounds such as e and a or k and s. Some of the women in the class are timid yet they catch on quicker than Mr Kaplan does, yet perhaps this was just a matter of upbringing. When Mr Parkhill introduces Shakespeare to the class, only Mr Kaplan appears to have learned about the Bard in his native country and offers an in depth critique of the passage discussed in class, albeit in his broken English tongue. It is here that Mr Parkhill begins to grasp the brilliance of Hymen Kaplan, sadly it might have been a little too late for advancement.

Rosten penned his ideas during the 1930s. At the time, the United States was closed to much immigration and newly arrived people from foreign lands were looked down upon by citizens. Today the United States is on the verge of a plurality- no dominant ethnic group, with Hispanics being the closest to a majority. In the 1930s, the majority group were Caucasians, and they believed themselves to be superior to all other Americans. I am seeing this book from a 21st century lens. A lot of the jokes are dated. I am a trained second language teacher, a Jew of Ashkenazic descent who understands Mr Kaplan’s nuances, and know that immigrants from other parts of the world are going to have an accent. Some people never lose their accent even after living the majority of their lives in the United States. Mr Parkhill failed to grasp this basic point, and it made me stop to ponder what his views about immigration and the life station of his students was outside of class. Rosten paints a picture of Parkhill as an archetypal WASP male and Kaplan the Eastern European Jewish immigrant. Theirs was a battle of wits, and, it was apparent to me, that Parkhill never stopped to empathize with his students. These sketches might have been considered funny in the 1930s; today not so much as times and opinions have changed.

Leo Rosten provided his readers with classic tomes including the stories of Hymen Kaplan. Mr Kaplan had a brilliant mind and did provide me with a few unintentional jokes including his pronunciation of refrigerator and subway as well as thinking that the Harold Tribune was a masculine paper. I suppose that this was considered self-deprecating humor to Jews in the 1930s as they struggled to advance in society. In terms of pure humor, I am still craving a funny movie starring Mel Brooks or Woody Allen. While completely dated, they are sure to provide me with nonstop laughs. As for Hymen Kaplan, suffice to say with a mind like his he had to have advanced in society eventually, even if his trials and tribulations are not considered purely humorous from a 21st century perspective.

3.75 stars

[Stacey B · Rating 4 out of 5]

In finishing this book today, I ended up with a smile on my face that I was hoping would happen. Written in 1937,"The Education of Hyman Kaplan" is a book full of humor, and personalities. The synopsis on the back cover is absolutely accurate.
I adore the heart of Hyman Kaplan, a forty-ish jolly good natured man who arrives in the USA from Poland enrolling in a Night Prep School for Adults to learn the English language.
His teacher Mr. Parkhill is quite the serious type, smiling only once that I saw.
Early on, he isn't sure what to make of Kaplan; though he can tell Kaplan is going to be a tough case,
but makes a judgement call that Kaplan is ignorant and will never pass this course.
Parkhill gets shaken and irritated every time Kaplan speaks.
Adult students spoke with the dialect of Yiddish and because of the colloquy of dialogue, it made understanding a little difficult.
The author totally saves us by translating the meaning as well as using phonetics.......
Mr. Parkhill: Who can tell us the meaning of "vast"?
Mr. Kaplan: (stands up proud to answer) "Vast" Its commink fromm diraction. Ve have four
diractions : de nauth de sot, de heast, and de vast.
Mr Parkhill: Er.. you mean "west" Mr. Kaplan?
Mr. Kaplan: So is- vast -is vat you eskink? (asking)
Mr. Parkhill: Yes, Mr Parkhill says faintly.
Mr. Kaplan: Aha! Hau Cay. Ven Im buyyink a suit clothes, Im gattink d' cawt, de pents and d'vest.
( Ok, when Im buying a suit clothes, Im getting the coat, the pants and the vest)
///
Though it's evident Kaplan works hard, Parkhill gives Kaplan a harder time than all the others.
Being proud - I don't think he recognized the depth of his effect on others until later.
Aware of being constantly criticized, in receiving more than his fair share of verbal punches, Kaplan waits to to pounce on somebody to make an error, yet when it happens, he is shot down every time. .His need for a compliment which could validate him is important, but that also never happens.
What is it with this Kaplan?
JSTOR joked with the title calling it The Man Who Wouldn't Go Away; reason being that others would have walked out due to the negative attitude towards him.
Kaplan's class is made up with different nationalities; mostly jewish immigrants but it is Kaplan who stands out in this class. Its obvious from day one he would get on the nerves of everyone.
Tablet Magazine, 2008 goes into depth regarding questioning the relationship between Parkhill and Kaplan as to whether antisemitism is part of Parkhill's nature. If so, he has the wrong job.
As time goes on, the level of confidence of the class increases.
Parkhill introduces the concept of "masculine-feminine", using an example that newspapers are considered masculine.
This threw Kaplan for a loop-he repeats the word out loud "noose pepper" ?
On the board Parkhill writes "Newspaper" showing "he- is masculine-she -is feminine."
He asks Kaplan knowing he will answer incorrectly: "What newspapers have a masculine name besides The New York Times and The New York Post?
Kaplan's response is Hay Cay, I know anser "The Harold Tribune." / Go......Kaplan!!
The final exam is give which is a story to be written on aspirations of the student.
This would be the culmination of the book as well as proving unspoken opinions.
Looking through the exam papers, Parkhill notices a a blank page.
Turning it over he finds Kaplan's name with a short notation that goes something like this:

If "I" am in hall and make knok, knok knok; and "I" hear
insite (inside the room) somebody hollers "Whose there"? ---"I" anser strong It's Kaplan !!

ps. I dont care if I dont pass, I love the class.
///
Mr. Parkhill's judgement call - "incorrect"!

[Jan Rice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fortunately, this book is too old to have an audio edition. Wall-to-wall word play, it's written to be read.

Hyman Kaplan is a Yiddish-speaking immigrant in a class full of immigrants learning to speak and understand English. And every word Hyman speaks is a... is a.... Well, I just spent a laugh-filled stint on Wikipedia, reading about malapropisms and mondegreens, but still not sure which ones Hyman utters. Whatever, their proliferation has his teacher, Mr. Parkhill (Pockheel, according to Hyman) climbing the wall.

"V" and "w;" short "a" and "e;" speech patterns from another language. On top of it all, a Brooklyn accent.

"Teacher" becomes "titcher;" "another meaning" becomes "annodder minink," and so forth. We get "Prazident Abram Lincohen" and "mine gootness" and "de naut, de sot, de heat, and de vast."

"Opprassed voikers of de voild..."

Riddles must be deciphered: what could possibly be the meaning of "A room is goink arond*?" (See answer at bottom.)

Opening this book from 1937, you may ask, as I did, just what is this? Is it funny? And just who is the butt of these jokes?

That's because we're in 2021, not the 1930s; we don't have the mindset or the experiences -- all necessary for getting jokes.

Is it nasty humor making fun of immigrants? Even antisemitic?

We don't think those things about Lionel, the Shakespeare of Tourette's, from Jonathan Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn; that, we're close enough to get.

The author was a Jew, writing at this point under a pen name, Leonard Q. Ross, whose Hyman Kaplan stories, prior to collection in this book, were published in The New Yorker, no less.

I think the author is serving up reverse mondegreens: the intentional production, in speech or writing, of words or phrases that seem to be gibberish but disguise meaning (Wikipedia).

And Hymanizing, make that, humanizing his would-be betters.

Good old Human Kaplan: the way my fingers kept wanting to type it!

*"A rumor's going around."


Addendum: If you could use some laughs, look up "Malapropisms" on Wikipedia, especially the "real-life examples" at the bottom.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, Goodreads, now I've finished it. This book is light and funny. Hyman Kaplan is an immigrant living in the United States and taking a beginners English class at a night school for adults. The book focuses on Kaplan's strange use of the English language: his odd spelling, bizarre pronunciation, and his logical (but incorrect) understanding of word meanings. Kaplan's teacher, Mr. Parkhill, does his best to be patient with Kaplan and to correct his errors, but Kaplan is incorrigible. The other students have differing relationships with Kaplan, from antagonistic to respectful.
The structure of the book consists of separate stories, each with its own title, regarding a different aspect of Kaplan's education or a different level of understanding achieved by Parkhill concerning his most difficult yet most entertaining student.
I would love to use parts of this book as samples for my writing classes. I work with many second language students, and I've seen many of the errors and much of the confusion in them that Ross shows in Kaplan. And I've felt the same frustration that Mr. Parkhill feels with seeing the same or the same type of errors over and over.
All in all, this is a good little book. I recommend it as something entertaining and light to read between heavier books. If you're a second language speaker or an instructor of second language students, you will definitely get a kick out of this. It is pre-World War II, though, so it's dated but still enjoyable.

[Kressel Housman · Rating 5 out of 5]

For Jews who love word play, this is an absolute hoot! Non-Jews who love word play might also like it, but as it takes place in an English class for a bunch of Jewish immigrants, mit Yiddisheh eksents yet, it'll fill Jews with nostalgia, even Jews who don't speak Yiddish. After all, it's a comedy about bubby and zaidy! Hyman Kaplan's mistakes are guaranteed to give you the giggles. They certainly did for me!

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was over 30 years ago when I originally read this short comic novel, and I remember thinking at the time it was hilarious. I have just re-read it after a copy was loaned to me. I am harder to please these days, but I still think it��s very funny. It dates from 1937, and is set amongst a class of newly arrived (mostly Jewish) immigrants to NYC, who are learning basic English. The conscientious but rather conventional teacher, Mr Parkhill, finds himself faced with the genial but extraordinary character of Hyman Kaplan, a man who writes each letter of his name with a different coloured crayon; for whom every recitation in class is the opportunity for an extravagant public performance; and who applies a unique logic to learning the English language. This includes conjugating the verb “to fail” as “Fail, Failed, Bankropt” and offering the word “skinny” as the opposite of “rich”.

Anyone who’s a GR member probably enjoys language and wordplay, and the wordplay here is very clever and very funny. It’s also next to impossible not to feel affection for the cast of characters, who include the struggling Mrs Moskowitz, the shy Miss Mitnick (the best student in the class and Kaplan’s great rival in classroom discussions), and of course the wonderful Hyman Kaplan himself.

[Madam Bovaread · Rating 5 out of 5]

The funniest book I have ever read so far! This book can cure depression one page at a time.
If you didn't know that the plural of 'bone' is 'skeleton' or that the forms of the verb 'to die' are 'die - dead - funeral' read this book 😂😂😂

[Jami · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Mr. Kaplan made me laugh; at some times I felt sorry for him and others I cheered him on! I also did feel some empathy to Mr. Parkhill as well! What an interesting story about Mr. Kaplan and his class at the Night Preparatory School for Adults. As I was reading it, I could hear his accent and his pronounciation - it certainly makes you stop and think how difficult (and illogical) the English language can be, particularly for non-native speakers.

[Anna Szabo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essential reading for an ESL teacher. It did become a little redundant after about page 70. But otherwise, an amusing read!

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another book I had begun to think I had dreamed. I first read it in the early 7os, when at age 10 I was allowed access to the adult stacks in the library. At that point in my small rural Midwestern life, I had never seen a "real live" Jewish person and New York City was only in the movies and on TV. I was attracted by the stars in the title, I guess, and I remember reading it and laughing over what I understood of it. I do remember a story that is missing from the edition I just re-read, titled "The Unforgivable Feh!" Apparently "Feh!" is a scornful sound made to imply that something is not very good, unimpressive etc.

At this reading, the many students remind me of the ESL students I have tried to teach over the years. There's the guy who's sure his fractured grammar is right--to the point of telling me "it's in my other English book at home!" The kid who's too shy to make a mistake out loud, so they never talk in class. The woman who thinks you're going to tap her on the head with your magic wand and make her speak perfect English in ten sessions or less--usually they last for far less. The man who believes the "English without effort" ads, and can't understand it doesn't work that way in real life.

I admit I was a bit surprised at the "first year" class with its rather advanced syllabus, but then a) this was set in the 30s or so, with much greater emphasis on actual grammar and study and b) the people did after all live in NYC. Talk about an immersion course! The only thing I didn't like is the teacher/narrator seeing his students as "childlike/childish" and yet they are all adults, most older than himself, and working at jobs. But then I remembered the attitudes of many ESL teachers I have known who transplanted themselves from the UK/US/Australia to Spain (usually temporarily) and held my peace.

[Jen Piotrowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny. I loved trying to translate what Hyman was saying and at thr same time rating Mr. Parkhill on his teaching strategies.

[Ellen-Arwen Tristram · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with another review I read - this would make a SPECTACULAR audiobook; I can hear the characters' voices so well in my head and it would be such fun to hear them out loud - adding to the hilarity.

Each chapter is a standalone vignette, as they were originally published as newspaper segments, so there is no overall story arc, but you just have to take it for what it is. Of course, it's completely exaggerated and stereotypes are played on; of course, malapropisms are not THAT frequent in speakers of English as a second language; of course people don't behave quite as extraordinarily... in short, it's just too silly - but it's great! And even stereotypes are based on something...

Having taught ESOL for over a year, I can definitely say that the tropes that the teacher, Mr Parkhill, found problematic in his students are real - just perhaps not so overwhelming! XD

Writing dialect can sometimes be quite cringey to read but Ross has it perfect so you can hear the accents and mispronunciations of the various students but it doesn't interfere with the flow of reading. Being a Jewish migrant himself, and then a teacher of ESOL students, Ross' easy read is charming. Full of over the top realism, touching moments, and hilarious sketches of outlandish characters, it's great fun, particularly if you have had anything to do with english as second language speakers. Definitely recommend!

[David Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Education of Hyman Kaplan by Leo Rosten writing as Leonard Q. Ross (Harcourt 1937) ( Fiction – Humor).This is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read, and it remains one of my favorites almost forty years after I stumbled across it at the library. Our narrator, Mr. Parkhill, is an English teacher at the American Night Preparatory School for Adults. He teaches English to a room full of adult immigrants who desperately want to learn to speak and to write proper English. The irrepressible Hyman Kaplan turns up in class one day and begins to wage war upon the English language. This is thought of as a classic of American humor; it’s one of my favorites! My rating: 8/10, finished 1978.

[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little outdated, having first been published in 1937, but cute nonetheless. I suppose the humor would have been more immediate at the time it was written. It does show many of the reasons why it's difficult for foreigners to learn English! There are so many ways the language can trip you up if you didn't grow up with it.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must for every ESL/EFL teacher (or any foreign language teacher for that matter). I must admit I enjoyed the ingenious Czech translation more than the English original. If you like this book watch Mind your language series (or vice versa)!

[Jonathan Lipman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charming, observant and at times very funny account of (mostly Jewish) immigrants into NY. The use of spelling to capture immigrant accents and lexicon is terrific. But monothematic, and now a tad dated.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute fun read. Rather dated since it was first published in 1937, but it was a nice view of my father's generation. And, probably very true of current ESL classes.

[sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m upset I finished this book so fast… What a refreshing step away from reality. I read one chapter of this book every night before bed during this past week of exams, and it was a good way to refresh my brain and wipe it clean of the day’s stress. It’s great because this book doesn’t have a particular plot to it- it just describes Mr. Kaplan’s experience during the year-long course of beginner English he and his classmates were taught by Mr. Parkhill.

Mr. H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N (please imagine I was somehow able to write his name in his signature way with red and green crayons- the stars and capital letters seemed enough effort) is hilarious. “Hau kay”, his bad English might have been a little bit of a stretch, but only a little. The English language is very tough to learn and extremely easy to mix up, so I suppose I understand Mr. Kaplan’s difficulty. What made his funny statements/answers all the funnier was his true earnestness to learn… Ironically, the ending sentence of this book is Mr. Kaplan’s first properly written (at least grammar-wise) English sentence. “ps. i dont care if i pass, i love the class.”

P.S. As a Christian teenager who has very high standards for the book she reads, I totally approve of this book. I found only one word I winced at, but I think that one word isn't all that hard to ignore, as it wasn't dwelt upon by the author. The rest of the book is very clean.

[Sasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was kinda funny, but I didn't enjoy it.

[Correen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clever and poignant book about a Jewish immigrant in the early 20th century. Hyman Kaplan loves learning the language in coming to American but he lacks some basic skills of pronunciation.
He is, however, a bright man who uses his own logic in determining the meaning of word meanings and phrases. The result is delightful humor in typical Rosten style.

[Raven Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

For teachers everywhere, the challenge and joy of figuring out a student who thinks in a beautifully different way is cleverly set out in this short book. To see the world through Hyman Kaplan’s eyes, his compassion, sincerity, curiosity, is to be joyful.

[Ben Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfectly captures my experience of teaching beginner's English, with the endearing and unique characters, their unexpected mistakes, and the poignancy of an adult trying to convey their thoughts with a child's vocabulary. A really beautiful, light-hearted book.

[Trevor Williamson · Rating 3 out of 5]

First published as a collection in 1937, Rosten's vignettes depict the antics of one particular immigrant student in an adult education night class intended to help foreigners better assimilate to American culture. The humor of the book invariably relies on stereotyping its cast of characters in a way that would have felt warm and light-hearted in the years before the second World War, and Rosten's puns work well with the premise, even if the jokes rely entirely on the suspension of disbelief.

Rosten's book was incredibly well-received throughout the 1930s and 1940s--the original stories, published in 1935, were immediately published by The New Yorker--and Kaplan was popular enough to warrant two further bodies of fiction from Rosten. So popular was Rosten's book, in fact, that it was "drafted" as the first title listed in the American Services Edition paperbacks shipped to GI's during WWII.

The book, however, is demonstrably a remnant of its time. Read now by the wrong audience, it could easily be misinterpreted as something anti-semitic, even though the context of the book's content should demonstrate that no such meaning would ever have been intended, and these sorts of misreadings would be inconceivable during its heyday. Rosten's stories are certainly problematic to modern sensibilities, but I tend to think that they're as much an indictment of the systematic pressure on immigrants to assimilate as it is a favorable political positioning of the practice. Rosten seems to value the cultural background of his protagonists as much as he also sympathizes with their seeming need to become more naturalized citizens of the United States. As the United States marched further toward war, and especially with the rise of anti-semitism in Europe and the closure of America's borders to Jews abroad, the ability of certain immigrants to become more functionally invisible would have been of sincere value--and while Rosten doesn't tackle the subject with any sense of genuine philosophical complexity, he assuredly understood what he was doing with his humor at the time, and thereafter.

I also don't find the book as offensive given that Rosten's style of humor has been a hallmark of many great comedic characters since, including Peter Sellers' (and Steve Martin's) Inspector Clouseau. It may be my postmodern brain that makes such connections, but I couldn't help but feel as though I was reading a lost Pink Panther bit more than once throughout the book.

It's worth a read for those looking for explorations of 20th century immigrant literature, but otherwise, I think it's fine to skip it.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this and the sequel as a kid and loved it. Having just finished them again, I still love the books. These would be excellent books to bring to a wider audience at this anti-immigrant moment. The setting is an adult education classroom of mostly immigrants who are trying desperately to learn English. Their teacher is Mr. Parkhill. Hyman Kaplan is a student in this classroom. But to say that Hyman Kaplan is a student is to miss the point. He is the creative center of the class. He can get out of almost any argument about English and win, no matter how wrong he might be. He is both a stereotype of the eager immigrant and a unique individual ferociously proud to be American. As a side note, you can learn a lot about language in this book. I think the first book is not quite as good as the second book, simply because I found myself laughing out loud more with the second book.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter checked out this book from the library over and over through her high school years, and I think she was probably the only one who ever read it in those years. The book may have influenced her to major in applied linquistics in college! I just read The Education of Hyman Kaplan for the first time and it is hilarious! The book was published in 1937 and the setting is a classroom of immigrant students struggling to learn the English language. Hyman Kaplan is the star as he always has some off-the-wall, genius way of phrasing and understanding English. As an example: "For a long time Mr. Parkhill had believed that the incredible things which Mr. Hyman Kaplan did to the English language were the products of a sublime and transcendental ignorance. That was the only way, for example, that he could account for Mr. Kaplan's version of the name of the fourth President of the United States: 'James Medicine.'....Any final doubts Mr. Parkhill might have felt on the whole matter were resolved once and for all when Mr. Kaplan conjugated 'to die' as 'die, dead, funeral.'" This book shows the difficulty of making sense of the English language, and those who undertake learning it as adults are to be commended.

[Royce Ratterman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set aside any peer-pressured, adapted, superimposed fantasy originated archaic political correctnesses that you possess, may imagine to be legitimate, and/or are attempting to believe yourself... and prepare to laugh.
Being exposed to the necessity of learning a new language upon relocating overseas (from the USA) I REALLY enjoyed this book.
"My vife gats op so oily in de mornink dat you couldn’t tell vat time it vas, I couldn’t tell vat time it vas, even Mr. Pockheel couldn’t tell. Avery day in de contry she vas gattink op six o’clock, no matter vat time it vas.”
-The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N is one of those little books that makes you wonder why you ever spent so much time on War and Peace. For whatever isn’t in H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N you feel, isn’t worth knowing... there is an unstoppable quality to Hyman Kaplan’s flow of misspellings, mispronunciations, mispunctuations, misconceptions, Malapropisms, and the like.
Read for personal pleasure and interest. Overall, also a good book for the researcher and enthusiast.
I found this book's contents helpful and inspiring - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.
Remember: "The real journey of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." -Proust

[Davidg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wodehouse called this book “sheer genius”, and who am I to disagree with the master. I bought this in a charity shop after enjoying Rosten’s ‘Joy of Yiddish’ with no expectations. In fact, I had put this book aside as one which wouldn’t make the cut when we move next year.

It consists of different stories of a class of immigrants to America as they struggle with the complexities of English. Central to the takes is the title character who cheerfully mangles the new strange language. It doesn’t poke fun at him or the other members of the class, but sympathises with their problems. (Rosen was both an immigrant who arrived with no English and later a teacher, just like Mr Parkhill in the book.). However, Mr Kaplan, for all his enthusiasm, insists on trying to show why his mistakes are in fact correct. He can’t answer a question without giving a speech, despite the heckles or encouragement of the rest of the class and the groans of his teacher.

A joy to read. The book will be moving with us. Now to find the second volume.

[Barbora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Besfádná kníga o ednem dobromyšném ale hradným páně Kaplanovi... Dobře to bylo po Kaplanovsku, teď normálně. Skvělá kniha. Kdo někdy zažil nějaké školní útrapy, představte si bandu dospělých cizinců ze všech koutů světa a jejich útrapy z učení se anglického jazyka. Mezi nimi jednoznačně vyčnívá Hyman Kaplan, který dokáže každé slovo totálně pomotat, až se někdy opravdu smějete nahlas! :) Občas jsem měla trošku problémy s porozuměním některých slovíček, přeci jen i když jsem četla česky, je to někdy ze 40. let a některá slova se už dávno nepoužívají. I přes to všechno jsem se tak nepobavila a neodpočinula si u knížky. Vážně doporučuji!!! :)

[Candi Ditzler · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Middle School Librarian I use this book with my 5th grade classes to show that just because a book is old doesn't mean it is a boring book - my students LOVE Hyman. They also enjoy making a new book cover for my poor old copy, complete with review on the back. How students embrace the plight of Hyman and his classmates struggling to learn proper English in their night class is amazing. They see their own struggles with grammar,vocabulary, and spelling acted out by adults in this adorably funny book.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still laugh hysterically at the misunderstandings of the English language by the earnest H*Y*M*A*N*K*A*P*L*A*N ever since I was introduced to him by my Jr. High Latin teacher...maybe she felt some of the same frustration in teaching us Latin that Mr.Parkhill felt in the Adult School where he taught Mr. Kaplan and his fellow immigrants...