Strange Traffic: Stories - Hardcover

Dische, Irene

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805041729 ISBN 13: 9780805041729

Publisher: Henry Holt & Co, 1995

Synopsis

A collection of stories finds its main characters in unlikely places and situations, from an affluent Jewish American who returns to Germany to a homosexual restauranteur who gets the chance to cook another meal for his first lover. Tour.

About this title

Reviews

All the characters in these 11 stories from an American writer living in Berlin find it impossible to make a clean break with the past. Those with romantic notions about freedom are invariably disappointed, although the reader is not, since Dische combines stylish prose with dark wit. "Portrait of a Defection" is the author's quintessential indictment of idealism: this story of an East German mathematician's methodical escape to the West opens with the words: "Once upon a time..." Enthusing to the Western press, the man announces, "It's like a fairy tale come true!"?but his idyll proves short-lived when his elderly mother, with whom he has shared a dreary apartment for years, announces that she is defecting, too. Like many others in this collection, the man can change his setting but can't alter his essential condition. Similarly, in "The Smuggled Wedding Ring," a couple who have fled Russia find themselves longing for the heavy gold ring?and all its symbolic baggage?that they left behind. Negative energy also drives the collection's opener, "Prior Conviction," the tale of a cynic who preaches that "rejection is much more important than affection." Even the elderly players in these stories prove to have learned little from their journies through life. Dische draws her international cast and their ironic tales of disillusion with distinctive strokes and sharp clarity, producing sharply individualistic, memorable portraits. Rights: Rowahlt Verlag; author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Dische, an American whose books are best sellers in Europe-her novel Pious Secrets (Viking, 1991) was translated into 15 languages-captures in many of her works the flavor of the German-Jewish neighborhood where she grew up. The result here is a warm and funny look at how the Old World influences events in the New, as tragedies, love, and loyalty are treated with a refreshing openness and sense of humor. In "The Doctor Needs a Home," for instance, Dische takes a warm-hearted look at her characters' frailties, while the title story contrasts Jews in Germany and America. "Innocent Vacation," which examines the author's own trip to Libya during the Ghaddafi revolution, shows that we can keep our sanity in an insane world by maintaining our innocence and learning to laugh. Blending satire and pathos, Dische's stories recall John Cheever's. Recommended for all libraries.
Vicki Cecil, Hartford City P.L., Ind.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Henry Holt & Co
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805041729
• ISBN 13: 9780805041729
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 243