Synopsis
''Well-written and engaging . . . foretell[s] the continued intensity of social linkage among Toronto's Jews. . . . Perhaps [their] collective consciousness is founded not only on their common religious identification, but also on the rich lessons of the immigrant experience told in the stories about Baldwin Street and places like it.''--Dr. Morton I. Teicher
''As in works by Isaac Bashevis Singer and Chaim Potok, the novel is much more than a cultural essay, its appeal is as much in universal coming-of-age drama . . . as in aspects of the immigrant experience.''--Booklist
''With a sure hand . . . Rakoff presents a parade of colourful portraits . . . Redolent of the atmosphere of the old market of the prewar era, this package of linked narratives is well made and charming. . . . . they make for rewarding reading . . .''--Canadian Jewish News
''Rakoff captures both the good and the bad that can occur when diverse cultures come together. [It is] full of eclectic characters and situations, and it is a pleasant, easy read.''--Jewish Independent
Leonard Abelson is one of seven children. He lives above Abelson's Hardware on Baldwin Street in Kensington Market in Toronto. It's the 1930s. Leonard s father, Sam, a former merchant sailor who speaks fourteen languages, does the purchasing for the store; his mother, Pearl, a Ukranian emigre who was a victim of pogroms and marauding Cossacks after WWI, runs the shop floor.
Leonard wants to be a writer. He witnesses the affections, struggles, and meager hopes of his neighbors fuel for his imagination. Periodically, Leonard has to look after a young philosophy professor from the University of Toronto, Menasha Rifkin, who suffers from fugue states, squatting among the stalls on Baldwin Street reading Spinoza, Kant, and the Globe & Mail.
Halloween 1936. A band of young Italians invades Baldwin Street in search of blood. Marshall McDonald, the Irish cop who failed to quell the famous ''Wop'' vs. ''Yid'' riot at Christie Pits six years earlier, now must investigate the death of Bernie Altman, a young boy whose senseless slaughter lingers over the Jewish community like a bad dream. In the tradition of James T. Farrell's Studs Lonigan and Mordecai Richler's The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Alvin Rakoff's Baldwin Street is literary fiction at its best.
This powerful novel presents a vivid mosaic of characters, the rich fabric of a community, and a boy's coming-of-age on the dusty, rough-and-tumble streets of Toronto.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
Alvin Rakoff is a film and television director, screen writer, and novelist. Former President of the Directors Guild of Great Britain, he has directed more than a hundred television dramas as well as a dozen feature films. He is the recipient of two International Emmy Awards and three Banff Film Festival awards, including Best Director and Best in Festival. His previous novel & Gillian (Little Brown) has been translated into ten languages. He was born and raised in Canada and is a graduate of the University of Toronto. He lives in London, England.
Reviews
Rooted in the vital Jewish immigrant community of shopkeepers in Toronto during the Depression, this novel tells surprising stories of finding home, often from the viewpoint of teenage Leonard Ableson, who works in the family store below where he lives. True to tradition, a few characters are pure schmaltz, including the loving Yiddish mama (every child is her favorite). In contrast, there is the tension between haunting memories of what was left behind versus the tough struggle for assimilation ("Hi ya," not "Good evening"). And, always, there is the harsh realism of prejudice, cutting both directions and climaxing here in a race riot. Older immigrants will respond to this novel, but so will many of their grandchildren, who, like Rakoff's characters, are returning now to what their parents rejected ("Change the name. Change it back"). As in works by Isaac Bashevis Singer and Chaim Potok, the novel is much more than a cultural essay, its appeal as much in universal coming-of-age drama (the joy of Leonard's first sexual encounter) as in aspects of the immigrant experience. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Other Popular Editions of the Same Title
Search results for Baldwin Street
Stock Image
Baldwin Street
Seller: Wonder Book, Frederick, MD, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Good. Good condition. Very Good dust jacket. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains. Seller Inventory # V09C-05103
Stock Image
Baldwin Street
Seller: ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Fair. No Jacket. Former library book; Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G1933480149I5N10