Dwight Garner, senior editor of The Book Review, wrote about “The Mighty Y” today on the New York Times Paper Cuts blog:

GalleyCat served up a timely reminder yesterday of the busy, and tasty, goings-on over at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan.

Whenever I’m poking around in back issues of the Book Review, I always stop to gaze in mild wonder at old 92nd Street Y ads. Has this institution ever had a dull season?

Click open the one at left – I picked it almost at random - and have a look. It’s from September, 1963.

How about that for a line-up: Singer, Calisher, McCarthy, Roth, Levertov, Spender, Dickey, Shapiro, Rukeyser, Cheever, Tate, Nabokov, Wilbur, oh my.

If I could rent a time machine for a week or two, that 1963 Y season might just make my To Do list.

Well Mr. Garner, may we take you “back to the future”? Check out who’s on the schedule now: Roddy Doyle, A.L. Kennedy, Li-Young Lee, Franz Wright, Garrison Keillor, Paul Muldoon, Umberto Eco, Salman Rushdie, Mario Vargas Llosa and many more.

[Literary Readings at the Y]

n69n, the artist formerly known as Norn Custon (and previous Yoko Ono illustrator), provides a great recap on his Myspace blog of the sold-out talk “Jews and the American Punchline” with comedians Judy Gold, Jackie Hoffman and moderator Thane Rosenbaum this past Sunday at the Y. He says, “there was much more that I wasn’t able to transcribe but it was ALL FUNNY.” Here a few of his notes:

JEWS & FOOD

Judy: Every event in life is surrounded by food. (Judy tells a story about a neighbor who had died..Judy was mildly sympathetic but she kept visiting while the family was sitting shiva because they had such good roast beef sandwiches)
Jackie: If I called my mother & said “I went to dinner with a serial killer who raped me with an axe”, she’d say “and what did he serve?”
Judy: Food is love.

FAVORITE JEWISH JOKE

Judy: How many Jewish Mothers does it take to change a lightbulb? “None, I’ll just sit here in the dark!”

Jackie: A Frenchman, a German & a Jew are stranded in the desert. The Frenchman says “I am so hot & thirsty, I must have wine!” The German says “I am so hot & thirsty, I must have beer!” The Jew says “I am so hot & thirsty, I must have diabetes!”

Judy: The President, Rabbi & Cantor of a synagogue are kidnapped. The kidnappers tell them they are going to kill them but they each get one wish first. The Rabbi says, “Oh, i have written this sermon, it’s the best thing I’ve ever written, it’s 3 hours long, but everything I’ve ever learned is in this sermon! It is the most important piece I’ve ever written, PLEASE let me give this sermon before I die!” The Cantor says, “Oh, I have written the most sublime piece of music! I’ve woven together all the prayers into this piece that represents my life’s work! It will mean so much to me if you allow me to play it before I die! The President of the synagogue says, “kill me first.”