Schlepping Through the Alps
My Search for Austria's Jewish Past With Its Last Wandering Shepherd
Random House Publishing Group · Print & ebook · March 28, 2006
Hans Breuer, Austria’s only wandering shepherd, is also a Yiddish folksinger.
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- Who it’s for
- A comic apprenticeship becomes a thoughtful walk through Austria’s Jewish past and uneasy history.
- Themes
- Austria’s Jewish history, Antisemitism and lingering Nazism, Shepherding in the Alps
- Genres
- Jewish Lives, Travel Writing, Austria Travel
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Hans Breuer, Austria’s only wandering shepherd, is also a Yiddish folksinger. He walks the Alps, shepherd’s stick in hand, singing lullabies to his 625 sheep. Sometimes he even gives concerts in historically anti-Semitic towns, showing slides of the flock as he belts out Yiddish ditties. When New York-based writer Sam Apple hears about this one-of-a-kind eccentric, he flies overseas and signs on as a shepherd’s apprentice.
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For thoroughly urban, slightly neurotic Sam, stumbling along in borrowed boots and burdened with a lot more baggage than his backpack, the task is far from a walk in Central Park. Demonstrating no immediate natural talent for shepherding, he tries to earn the respect of Breuer’s sheep, while keeping a safe distance from the shepherd’s fierce herding dogs. As this strange and hilarious adventure unfolds, the unlikely duo of Sam and Hans meander through a paradise of woods and high meadows toward awkward encounters with Austrians of many stripes. Apple is determined to find out if there are really as many anti-Semites in Austria as he fears and to understand how Hans, who grew up fighting the lingering Nazism in Vienna, became a wandering shepherd. What Apple discovers turns out to be far more fascinating than he had imagined. With this odd and wonderful book, Sam Apple joins the august tradition of Tony Horwitz and Bill Bryson. Schlepping Through the Alps is as funny as it is moving.
Alpine Unease
A comic apprenticeship becomes a thoughtful walk through Austria’s Jewish past and uneasy history.
Come here for
- Shepherding mishaps with a self-deprecating travel voice
- Questions about Jewish memory and Austria’s lingering antisemitism
Expect
- An unlikely pairing balancing comedy with historical reflection
- Alpine wandering, sheep, and encounters beyond the postcard view
Where it sits
| Austria Travel | 47% |
|---|---|
| Travel Writing | 47% |
| Jewish Lives | 36% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Jewish Literary Criticism
- Austria Travel
- Travel Writing
- Authors
- Sam Apple
- Publisher
- Random House Publishing Group
- Published
- March 28, 2006
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Austria’s Jewish history · Antisemitism and lingering Nazism · Shepherding in the Alps
- Reading lane
- Jewish Literary Criticism