Synopsis
Eight stories follow the life of a young teacher at the Columbia School of journalism as he courts his wife, becomes a father, and learns to live with his own flaws
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From Library Journal
Five of these eight stories first appeared in the New Yorker; the title story won the O. Henry Prize. Each is an episode in the life of Davey Leonard, a young journalism teacher who appeared earlier in Friends and Relations (1976) , a previous book of stories. One story flashes back to a time when 18-year-old Davey took an assignment as a sort of industrial spy, making the locals suspicious. But most of the stories, set in New York City and the Berkshire Mountains, show him settling in as husband and father, monitoring the lingering death of his crotchety but beloved uncle, an aged leftist with a rich, strong-willed personality. Throughout, Davey's strong love for the old man's struggles comes up against generation and communication gaps and the competing needs of wife and infant son. The narratives are simple and involving, clear and touching. Recommended for collections of quality fiction.William A. Donovan, Chicago P.L.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Publishers Weekly
The central figure in these short stories, five of which appeared in the New Yorker, is Uncle Sol, an aging but still feisty New York radical. The narrator, David Leonard, teaches journalism at Columbia, but must spend much of his time tending to his uncle, both in the city and at the Berkshires farmhouse Sol has bequeathed to David. Each tale is simple and beautifully crafted, adding layer upon layer to the story of Sol and David's loving, but stormy, relationship. As the stories progress, David also meets his wife-to-be, Elizabeth (in the marsupial room at the Museum of Natural History), and they have a child, Charlie: the new generation comes in as the old fails. Menaker (Family and Friends writes with humor and an obvious love for his charactersthe book reads more like a memoir than fictionand the stories are, without exception, moving and large-spirited.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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The Old Left and other stories
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The Old Left and other stories
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The Old Left and other stories
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The Old Left and other stories
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Old Left, The: Stories (Contemporary American Fiction)
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Soft Cover. Condition: good+. Dagmar Frinta, cover il (illustrator). 132 pages; 7.75" tall; pp browning slightly; dark stain on back cover. Paperback. Seller Inventory # 181065
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The Old Left
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
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Softcover. Condition: Near Fine. Reprint. Trade paperback. Pages lightly age-toned, near fine. Finely crafted stories center on the relationship between a journalism teacher and his Uncle. Seller Inventory # 429536
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The Old Left
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Soft cover. Condition: Very Good ++. Dagmar Frinca (cover) (illustrator). SUBTITLED : ` and other stories'. In the opening to this 132 page collection, the author gives credit to his wife, Katherine Bouton, for keeping him on a clear path. Read more of : Midge Montgomery, Two-Mile Hill, private-duty nurse, Circadia, Oxygen on 3, and white-slaving. Cond : White paper wrapper, purple lettering. That might be Uncle Sol on the cover. Clean, square, and bright. No names marks, creases, nor tears. QUote (p. 68) : " ._._. that the dark one looked like me. Anyway, the wife of one of these men is having an affair with another of them, probably because ._._._. . " Size: 8vo. Seller Inventory # 016258
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The Old Left and other stories
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