Old Left

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

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.

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.