Synopsis
A collection of short stories take place in New York City, the former East Germany, and Virginia, and are set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, the Kennedy era, the destruction of the Berlin Wall, and the renovation of Ellis Island. Original. IP.
Reviews
Kirshenbaum has a strong moral aptitude and a ballistic sense of humor, launching anti-assumption rockets with cool precision. Her targets are the bland sentimentalities of romance and unexamined family life, the blank-eyed acceptance of prejudice, and the superficial presumptions of sexism. In this set of poignant and piquant short stories, Kirshenbaum explores the interface of grand events and ordinary lives, particularly the lives of women. Several stories, including the title story, revolve around the friendship of the narrator, a New York Jew, and Lorraine, an eccentric Southerner, and examine such things as the reunification of Germany, the brief reign of the Kennedys, and the anemia of TV's Mayberry. In other tales, Kirshenbaum's women want, truly, to be alone and free of clinging men and children. Her candor about the female psyche is not unlike Margaret Atwood's, but her feisty voice, gutsy humor, mischievous dispassion, and gift for setting scenes and conjuring moments of realization are all her own. Her last novel, Disturbance in One Place (1994), was widely praised. Donna Seaman
Belonging?in a relationship, a family, a community, or a culture?is an underlying theme in these 16 stories, nine of which were previously published. New Yorker Lorraine, close friend of the female narrator in the title story and two other tales that loosely frame the collection, loses her German lover and reverts to her Southern roots only to find that she no longer feels comfortable with them. Other themes include the celebration of female friendship, the impossibility of finding true love (except in "Courtship," a moving story inspired by the writer's own parents), and the exploration of Jewishness, notably in three remarkably succinct stories. In the most memorable of these, "Jewish But Not Really," a nonobserving Jewish child learns that she can never?no matter what?win the Easter egg hunt. Kirshenbaum (A Disturbance in One Place, LJ 3/15/94) uses her crisp prose and wry humor to illustrate home truths. For most collections.?Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L., Va.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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