Conceived as the first work to identify Jewish writers of the twentieth century worldwide, and examining in particular the Jewish themes in their work, Jewish Writers of the Twentieth Century is both an important reference resource and a springboard for further study. It contains some 330 entries on individuals, arranged alphabetically, as well as five introductory essays. The entries on individuals consist of an outline biography, a list of selected publications, suggestions for further reading, and a signed interpretive essay.

The introductory essays provide an overview of Jewish writing in America, the emergence of Holocaust literature and memoirs, Yiddish writing in the twentieth century, and the development of Hebrew literature, as well as an essay exploring Anglo-Jewish literature. The book amounts to a literary and social history of the Jewish people in the twentieth century.