Best of Blue - by Lionel Blue (Paperback)

About the Book

In 1972, Lionel Blue was a little known Rabbi in London. Spotted by a perceptive publisher, he then published his first book To Heaven with Scribes and Pharisees . But the range of books that followed was incredible - cookery books, books of Jewish jokes, and the Blue Guide to Eternity . This collection aims to represent this whole range.

Book Synopsis

A child of poor Jewish parentage, educated in the roughest part of the East End of London, Lionel Blue worked his way through Balliol College, Oxford and the Rabbinate to become a star of radio and stage. His 'Thought for the Day' broadcasts enchanted and invigorated millions of listeners. The Rabbi's humour became celebrated, making it even a regular feature of Private Eye, the satirical magazine, and his opening gambit of 'Good morning Peter, good morning Sue and good morning everyone' became famous. This new collection of the best of Lionel Blue's writings sparkles with his characteristic and idiosyncratic humour. It is through this that his profound wisdom has touched the hearts and minds of millions of appreciative listeners.

The book sparkles with Lionel Blue's characteristic, idiosyncratic humour and profound wisdon. Blue's whole range of writing - To Heaven with Scribes and Pharisees, cookery, Jewish jokes, the Blue Guide to Eternity and Jewish Prayer Books for High Days and Holy Days - is represented in this charming new collection.

Review Quotes

'homely, everyday stories, disarmingly honest, and free of cant. They ae often funny - and so can be all the more poignant.' --Sanford Lakoff "Church Times "

'Blue fans will love it...The tone is...light and chatty, and recounting anecdotes of everyday life in which God is announced in unexpected places and people. There are some memorable moments, such as the occasion when on which God said "Strewth." Stephen R.White, Church of Ireland Gazette, 27/10/2006--Sanford Lakoff

"Religion can either make you very nice or very nasty" (Rabbi Lionel Blue) "One of the places I get my own religious experience from is in the departure lounge of an airport or else sitting on the concourse of Euston Station. Seeing the arrivals and departures of people in some big London station makes you want to go up to them and cuddle them." (Rabbi Lionel Blue)
Camden New Journal, 19th October 2006

'a unique voice on BBC Radio 4...with his idiosyncratic humour and profound wisdom. This is a charming, refreshing collection of his stories.' East Riding News, December 2006

'He is undoubtedly "an original." You have only to read a page of this book to realise it.' Mount Carmel

'This is a charming, refreshing collection of his stories.' Driffield Leader, Dec 2006

"[T]here is much here for his fans to enjoy and reflect on." Reviewed by Merly Hill in Baptist Times, 2008

"At the moment, those in the ministry are keen to find a contemporary idiom for the gospel. Maybe some of those who go to the West Coast at considerable expense in order to discover this elusive argot would do better to get this book and find a quiet corner on Boars Hill with Fr Livinus' imprint (cf. p. 108), to read it."
-Nicholas Madden, Mount Carmel, July-Sept. 2010

"Rabbi Lionel Blue bridges past and present biblical texts and speaks across diverse faiths, too." Appeared in Woman's Weekly, 2008

About the Author

Rabbi Blue lives in North London. He appears frequently on the stage on college podiums and on the radio (occasionally on TV). He is a Fellow of Grey College, University of Durham and an honorary Dr. Of Divinity. He is currently also honorary Vice Chairman of the Movement for Reform Judaism.