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A Young Man in Search of Love
Singer describes his life and literary career in Warsaw and the love affairs marking his search for a genuine relationship
256 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1978
About the author
Isaac Bashevis Singer
557 books1,133 followersIsaac Bashevis Singer was a Polish American author of Jewish descent, noted for his short stories. He was one of the leading figures in the Yiddish literary movement, and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978.
His memoir, "A Day Of Pleasure: Stories of a Boy Growing Up in Warsaw", won the U.S. National Book Award in Children's Literature in 1970, while his collection "A Crown of Feathers and Other Stories" won the U.S. National Book Award in Fiction in 1974.
His memoir, "A Day Of Pleasure: Stories of a Boy Growing Up in Warsaw", won the U.S. National Book Award in Children's Literature in 1970, while his collection "A Crown of Feathers and Other Stories" won the U.S. National Book Award in Fiction in 1974.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 25, 2026
I.B. Singer's Quest For Love
In Singer's words, this book tells the story of "the never-ceasing search and gain of love". The book combines the search for physical love and sex with spirituality, as Singer writes, "religion and love, even sex, are attributes of the same substance, as they were for the Kabbalists of all generations. The Godhead itself is a union of the principles of male and female, a yearning which never can be completely fulfilled."
"A Young Man in Search of Love"(1978) is the second book of a three part autobiography that Singer (1903 -- 1991) combined in 1986 into his book "Love and Exile". This separately-published book has the advantage of including beautiful drawings and paintings by Raphael Soyer (1899 -1987), an American artist and friend of Singer's. I received this book as a gift in 1978 and was moved to remember the giver and to revisit the book together with the other two volumes of the trilogy.
This moving, thoughtful book is written simply. The narrator is a young man in Warsaw in the mid-1920s struggling to become a writer. He is a shy young man struggling with his Orthodox, Hasidic Jewish background as well as with sexuality. He is also struggling with poverty and with the threat of conscription into the Polish army.
At the outset of the story, the narrator is involved in his first romantic affair, living in the small apartment of a woman over twice his age. His ardor has cooled. He moves out with a stormy break-up and becomes involved with at least two additional young women along the way. With the travails of youthful sex and love, the book ends with a new relationship seemingly about to begin.
The introspective self-centered young narrator searches for an understanding of the meaning of life in addition to his search for sex and love. He is concerned especially with the existence of widespread evil in the world in the wake of the Great War and with the existence of God. The narrator has read widely both in traditional Jewish sources and in philosophy, particularly Spinoza and to a lesser degree Kant. The book details struggles with thought and with the life of the mind as the narrator comes to a theistic, mystical position which denies the ability of man to know anything about God or his will.
In addition to its introspective character, "A Young Man in Search of Love" portrays the life of the writer and the difficult condition of the Poland of his day. The book is set in the streets and apartments, including the Writers Club where the narrator meets other struggling writers. The book shows the ferment of Jewish life as it is torn between Orthodoxy, socialism and communism, and Zionism. The book also gives a sense of the instability of Poland between the two world wars as it struggles to maintain its independence and also suffers a military coup. The different nationalities in Poland fight one another and the country is full of anti-Semitism.
With its depiction of the events of the day, this book remains a highly personal portrait of the life of the young author, with his quest for sex and love, and for spiritual understanding together with his extensive reading and thinking. The story is particular and unique, but it spoke to me and made me think of my own young life. The dear person who gave me the book knew me well.
Rafael Soyer's illustrations add a great deal to this book. The other two parts of Singer's trilogy are "A Little Boy in Search of Love" and "Lost in America".
Robin Friedman
In Singer's words, this book tells the story of "the never-ceasing search and gain of love". The book combines the search for physical love and sex with spirituality, as Singer writes, "religion and love, even sex, are attributes of the same substance, as they were for the Kabbalists of all generations. The Godhead itself is a union of the principles of male and female, a yearning which never can be completely fulfilled."
"A Young Man in Search of Love"(1978) is the second book of a three part autobiography that Singer (1903 -- 1991) combined in 1986 into his book "Love and Exile". This separately-published book has the advantage of including beautiful drawings and paintings by Raphael Soyer (1899 -1987), an American artist and friend of Singer's. I received this book as a gift in 1978 and was moved to remember the giver and to revisit the book together with the other two volumes of the trilogy.
This moving, thoughtful book is written simply. The narrator is a young man in Warsaw in the mid-1920s struggling to become a writer. He is a shy young man struggling with his Orthodox, Hasidic Jewish background as well as with sexuality. He is also struggling with poverty and with the threat of conscription into the Polish army.
At the outset of the story, the narrator is involved in his first romantic affair, living in the small apartment of a woman over twice his age. His ardor has cooled. He moves out with a stormy break-up and becomes involved with at least two additional young women along the way. With the travails of youthful sex and love, the book ends with a new relationship seemingly about to begin.
The introspective self-centered young narrator searches for an understanding of the meaning of life in addition to his search for sex and love. He is concerned especially with the existence of widespread evil in the world in the wake of the Great War and with the existence of God. The narrator has read widely both in traditional Jewish sources and in philosophy, particularly Spinoza and to a lesser degree Kant. The book details struggles with thought and with the life of the mind as the narrator comes to a theistic, mystical position which denies the ability of man to know anything about God or his will.
In addition to its introspective character, "A Young Man in Search of Love" portrays the life of the writer and the difficult condition of the Poland of his day. The book is set in the streets and apartments, including the Writers Club where the narrator meets other struggling writers. The book shows the ferment of Jewish life as it is torn between Orthodoxy, socialism and communism, and Zionism. The book also gives a sense of the instability of Poland between the two world wars as it struggles to maintain its independence and also suffers a military coup. The different nationalities in Poland fight one another and the country is full of anti-Semitism.
With its depiction of the events of the day, this book remains a highly personal portrait of the life of the young author, with his quest for sex and love, and for spiritual understanding together with his extensive reading and thinking. The story is particular and unique, but it spoke to me and made me think of my own young life. The dear person who gave me the book knew me well.
Rafael Soyer's illustrations add a great deal to this book. The other two parts of Singer's trilogy are "A Little Boy in Search of Love" and "Lost in America".
Robin Friedman
December 11, 2018
ابھی ایک کافی لمبا ریویو لکھ کر اسکو کاٹ چکا ہوں. الفاظ کے انبار لگا کر شاہد لفاظی کی منازل تو طے ہوجاتیں مگر بھرپور توصیف نہ کرسکتا
البرٹ کامیو کے بعد یہ دوسرے مصنف ہیں جنکی تحریر پڑھ کر احساس ہوا کہ ادب کا نوبل انعام ضائع نہیں ہوا. کہنے کو بہت عمدہ ترجمہ تھا مگر وہ مخ بھی اتنا عام نہیں جس سے یہ اردو ترجمہ پیدا کیا گیا
سوانحی ناول یا یادداشت کے طرز پر لکھی گئی اس کتاب کو عالمانہ یا ناقدانہ معیار پر بیان نہیں کرسکتا. یہ بہرحال ایک ایسے نوجوان کے شب و روز کا فسانہ ہے جو اس حیات و عالم میں بہت کچھ سمجھ نہیں پارہا. سب کچھ سادہ ہونے کے باوجود اتنا موثر لکھنے کا انداز شاید ہی کسی اور کو عطا ہوا ہو
بہت خوبصورت نگینہ ہے
البرٹ کامیو کے بعد یہ دوسرے مصنف ہیں جنکی تحریر پڑھ کر احساس ہوا کہ ادب کا نوبل انعام ضائع نہیں ہوا. کہنے کو بہت عمدہ ترجمہ تھا مگر وہ مخ بھی اتنا عام نہیں جس سے یہ اردو ترجمہ پیدا کیا گیا
سوانحی ناول یا یادداشت کے طرز پر لکھی گئی اس کتاب کو عالمانہ یا ناقدانہ معیار پر بیان نہیں کرسکتا. یہ بہرحال ایک ایسے نوجوان کے شب و روز کا فسانہ ہے جو اس حیات و عالم میں بہت کچھ سمجھ نہیں پارہا. سب کچھ سادہ ہونے کے باوجود اتنا موثر لکھنے کا انداز شاید ہی کسی اور کو عطا ہوا ہو
بہت خوبصورت نگینہ ہے
April 24, 2026
Hyvä ja häiritsevä. Pidin kertojan pohdinasta mystiikasta ja Jumalasta. Päähenkilön rakkaussuhteet olivat minulle aika vierasta lajia xd.
Suosittelen tätä teosta pohdiskeleville, alati jotain etsiville ihmisille. Suoria vastauksia kirja ei anna mutta uusia näkökulmia kyllä).
Kirjassa pieni poika etsii vastausta ikuisuuskysymyksiin: mikä on (J/j)umala, ja miksi on kärsimystä?
Kirja ei ole helppolukuinen, mutta ei mahdotonkaan. Oikeassa tunnelmassa se antaa
lukijalleen paljon. Kirjan alkulehdillä esipuheessaan Singer kuvailee mystikon
olemusta, ja tekee samalla oivaltavan havainnon (tai ehkä se on vain tiivistelmä?):
”Miksi Jumala loi Saatanan? Miksi Taivaan kuningas loi itselleen vastustajan? -…-
Jumala antoi ihmiselle aarteistaan suurimman - vapaan tahdon, tietyn autonomian.
Ihmisen ei ole pakko joka hetki tehdä mitä voimat käskevät. Hän voi valita.
” (s. 13)
Suosittelen tätä teosta pohdiskeleville, alati jotain etsiville ihmisille. Suoria vastauksia kirja ei anna mutta uusia näkökulmia kyllä).
Kirjassa pieni poika etsii vastausta ikuisuuskysymyksiin: mikä on (J/j)umala, ja miksi on kärsimystä?
Kirja ei ole helppolukuinen, mutta ei mahdotonkaan. Oikeassa tunnelmassa se antaa
lukijalleen paljon. Kirjan alkulehdillä esipuheessaan Singer kuvailee mystikon
olemusta, ja tekee samalla oivaltavan havainnon (tai ehkä se on vain tiivistelmä?):
”Miksi Jumala loi Saatanan? Miksi Taivaan kuningas loi itselleen vastustajan? -…-
Jumala antoi ihmiselle aarteistaan suurimman - vapaan tahdon, tietyn autonomian.
Ihmisen ei ole pakko joka hetki tehdä mitä voimat käskevät. Hän voi valita.
” (s. 13)
July 5, 2012
I was writing the story; not the reality of the story. [Regarding foot story.]
P.10 his stories personified the pathos of the provincial...
P.13 narrator of human passion
P.18 In generation after generation people sacrificed their lives in battle, but nothing was ever realized. How did one become a writer in such a universal slaughterhouse? How could I write about love while millions of innocent creatures writhed in the clutches of slaughterers, hunters, and vivisectionists of every ilk.
P.19 Her hunger for love that I could never manage to satisfy.
(In stories such as these the women are made to be so unreasonable. Understandably it is highlighting that they are not meeting the needs of the man, but rather than being unreasonable, it presents to me how solid the disparity between the sexes, and a disparity without blame, though such arises in any romantic account. I can see clearly in reading that he needed rest, and how the woman's reaction based on insecurity and love is unappealing, but... There seems to be no allowance between us. ...Or maybe for women like that, who are women like me. But...I can't imagine that I ever will be full, therefore I will always be unreasonable or empty. )
P.34 I had stumbled upon a phrase: "split personality", and I applied this diagnosis to myself. This was precisely what I was--cloven [CLOVEN], torn, perhaps a single body with many souls each pulling in a different direction.
P.34 I had spotted the weaknesses in the famous philosophers and great writers yet I wrote things that emerged naive, awkward, amateurish.
P.39 Somewhere, I had heard or read the expression "the reappraisal of all values" and it was clear to me that this was what I had to do--reappraise all values. I could not rely on any authority.
P.87 Must people belong to a group and drag along all it's burdens of superstition and discrimination behind them?
P.110 As soon as two people met, one assumed the dominant role.
P.133 one complex fig
P.135 Since man is made in God's image, man could learn more about God by looking within himself, observing all his aspirations, yearnings, hopes, doubts.
P.139 A year hence, Marila will marry her fiance, the soldier stach, son of jan, and for me there also awaits somewhere an ovary and a womb that will give birth to my son or daughter. God is the sum total not only of all deeds but also of all the possibilities. Good night, heaven if you can, have mercy upon me.
P. 151 Everything man loves was created by the almighty. Even the heretics love god. If a fruit is good and you love it, then you love the creator of this fruit since He invested it with all it's flavor. And if someone is a lecher and lusts for females, it was the creator who bestowed them with their beauty and allure. The sage recognizes the source of all the good things and he lives that source. When the fruit rots, you no longer love it, and when the woman grows old and sickly, the lecher runs from her. The fool will not give any thought to where everything's tens from.
P.10 his stories personified the pathos of the provincial...
P.13 narrator of human passion
P.18 In generation after generation people sacrificed their lives in battle, but nothing was ever realized. How did one become a writer in such a universal slaughterhouse? How could I write about love while millions of innocent creatures writhed in the clutches of slaughterers, hunters, and vivisectionists of every ilk.
P.19 Her hunger for love that I could never manage to satisfy.
(In stories such as these the women are made to be so unreasonable. Understandably it is highlighting that they are not meeting the needs of the man, but rather than being unreasonable, it presents to me how solid the disparity between the sexes, and a disparity without blame, though such arises in any romantic account. I can see clearly in reading that he needed rest, and how the woman's reaction based on insecurity and love is unappealing, but... There seems to be no allowance between us. ...Or maybe for women like that, who are women like me. But...I can't imagine that I ever will be full, therefore I will always be unreasonable or empty. )
P.34 I had stumbled upon a phrase: "split personality", and I applied this diagnosis to myself. This was precisely what I was--cloven [CLOVEN], torn, perhaps a single body with many souls each pulling in a different direction.
P.34 I had spotted the weaknesses in the famous philosophers and great writers yet I wrote things that emerged naive, awkward, amateurish.
P.39 Somewhere, I had heard or read the expression "the reappraisal of all values" and it was clear to me that this was what I had to do--reappraise all values. I could not rely on any authority.
P.87 Must people belong to a group and drag along all it's burdens of superstition and discrimination behind them?
P.110 As soon as two people met, one assumed the dominant role.
P.133 one complex fig
P.135 Since man is made in God's image, man could learn more about God by looking within himself, observing all his aspirations, yearnings, hopes, doubts.
P.139 A year hence, Marila will marry her fiance, the soldier stach, son of jan, and for me there also awaits somewhere an ovary and a womb that will give birth to my son or daughter. God is the sum total not only of all deeds but also of all the possibilities. Good night, heaven if you can, have mercy upon me.
P. 151 Everything man loves was created by the almighty. Even the heretics love god. If a fruit is good and you love it, then you love the creator of this fruit since He invested it with all it's flavor. And if someone is a lecher and lusts for females, it was the creator who bestowed them with their beauty and allure. The sage recognizes the source of all the good things and he lives that source. When the fruit rots, you no longer love it, and when the woman grows old and sickly, the lecher runs from her. The fool will not give any thought to where everything's tens from.
April 30, 2021
A quick, unexpected read. Fearing military duty and starting to have some minor writing success, Singer explores what it means to be a man a thinker and a Jew in tumultuous Poland. He passes through a variety of unconventional relationships with women who are likewise trying to find some sustainable, meaningful path. Surprisingly unromantic (and with explicit but classy illustrations), this book left me a bit confused. I know Singer mostly as a short story author and am not familiar with other stages of his autobiography - this feels very much like one piece in a larger story, without a real beginning or end.
November 1, 2022
I don’t think I’ve ever read a book faster. I dunno if this is because I related to the story or because I like the author or because it is just easy to read such a stream-of-conscious, almost diaristic book - or because I haven’t been able to sleep and so picked it up again and again over the past 16 hours - but I flew through it and enjoyed it. It seemed honest, interesting, and personal. I haven’t read Singer like this before and it serves to humanize the giant.
Read
December 17, 2021It exceeds A Portrait of an Artist as A young Man. It looks to me more entwined with real self digging deeper in the configurarion revealing many different levels of the protagonist/ narrator.
Astonishing.
Astonishing.
November 4, 2022
Never ending self conversations make it difficult to read.
January 31, 2025
Singer's endearing autobiographical account of his early years in Poland.
January 5, 2026
fiction > non-fiction
October 27, 2020
This is Singer at the peak of his powers. This short work encapsulates a crucial period in his life when he had to make decisions about his love life and career. He made lots of bad decisions. But he trusted his instincts and always came out okay in the end. This is largely due to his upbringing by a strict rabbi who rejected all things secular. The young Singer held on to many of the beliefs his father had instilled in him and it made him the think hard about everything around him. The way he summarizes the incredibly complicated political situation that existed in Poland during this time is amazing. We may think we live in precarious times given that we put a demagogue in the White House and suck up conspiracy theories like pap. But we are far from times like those that Singer describes where everyone is against everyone and suspicion is so high that nothing can get done. As far as his love life goes, Singer was no saint. But he is at least honest. He often succumbs to the temptations of the flesh. But given the mileu he is living in, I don't blame him for trying to go for the gusto in a world that offers little in the way of comfort and security. This is a wonderful book.
January 30, 2017
I think that IBS is Woody Allen favorite writer :)
June 8, 2018
Singer's conjuring of a lost world is very effective. He describes things in a way that is very honest and also poetic.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews