Author: William D. Kaufman
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
ISBN: 0815651252
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 208
Book Description
The lasting charm of Kaufman’s stories lies in a delightful mix of personal incidents and observations set against an anchoring backdrop of cultural tradition. His new collection is filled with tales from his parents’ homeland in the Ukraine, his own childhood reminiscences, and his adult travels. We watch the young author forced alongside “every Jewish boy on the block” to emulate Yehudi Menuhin on a ten-dollar violin with a moldy bow until the boy is spared by an innate lack of talent and his father’s judgment of his concert: “Enough is enough is more than enough.” Kaufman is carefully attuned to the awkwardness of adulthood as well as to that of early adolescence. In “Interlude in Bangkok,” his narrator scours the city for a synagogue while pursued by a prostitute. Later he and a friend encounter Greta Garbo in a museum café and are too frightened to approach her. Aware of their intrigue, the mysterious movie star intones, “I am not she”; Kaufman, in his own way, says that of himself in these stories through an autobiographical narrator whose memories take on resonant, literary shapes in their retelling.
The Day My Mother Cried and Other Stories
Author: William D. Kaufman
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
ISBN: 0815651252
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 208
Book Description
The lasting charm of Kaufman’s stories lies in a delightful mix of personal incidents and observations set against an anchoring backdrop of cultural tradition. His new collection is filled with tales from his parents’ homeland in the Ukraine, his own childhood reminiscences, and his adult travels. We watch the young author forced alongside “every Jewish boy on the block” to emulate Yehudi Menuhin on a ten-dollar violin with a moldy bow until the boy is spared by an innate lack of talent and his father’s judgment of his concert: “Enough is enough is more than enough.” Kaufman is carefully attuned to the awkwardness of adulthood as well as to that of early adolescence. In “Interlude in Bangkok,” his narrator scours the city for a synagogue while pursued by a prostitute. Later he and a friend encounter Greta Garbo in a museum café and are too frightened to approach her. Aware of their intrigue, the mysterious movie star intones, “I am not she”; Kaufman, in his own way, says that of himself in these stories through an autobiographical narrator whose memories take on resonant, literary shapes in their retelling.
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
ISBN: 0815651252
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 208
Book Description
The lasting charm of Kaufman’s stories lies in a delightful mix of personal incidents and observations set against an anchoring backdrop of cultural tradition. His new collection is filled with tales from his parents’ homeland in the Ukraine, his own childhood reminiscences, and his adult travels. We watch the young author forced alongside “every Jewish boy on the block” to emulate Yehudi Menuhin on a ten-dollar violin with a moldy bow until the boy is spared by an innate lack of talent and his father’s judgment of his concert: “Enough is enough is more than enough.” Kaufman is carefully attuned to the awkwardness of adulthood as well as to that of early adolescence. In “Interlude in Bangkok,” his narrator scours the city for a synagogue while pursued by a prostitute. Later he and a friend encounter Greta Garbo in a museum café and are too frightened to approach her. Aware of their intrigue, the mysterious movie star intones, “I am not she”; Kaufman, in his own way, says that of himself in these stories through an autobiographical narrator whose memories take on resonant, literary shapes in their retelling.
The Day My Mother Changed Her Name and Other Stories
Author: William D. Kaufman
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
ISBN: 9780815609322
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 224
Book Description
William Kaufman grew up on his mother’s kugel and his father’s boyhood stories. The son of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania and the Ukraine and one of five children, he learned how to translate his colorful childhood into tales of his own, regaling audiences of family, friends, and eventually his retirement community with periodic public readings. Now, at the age of 93, Kaufman makes his stories, filled with a sharp wit and telling detail, available to a wider audience for the first time. In the title story a young Jewish boy is shamed by his narrow-minded teacher when she forces him to admit, before the whole class, that his mother cannot read English. His mother’s eventual encounter with the teacher offers a lesson in self-respect with just the right balance of grace and moxie. In “The Search for God in the A & P” a young boy goes on a clandestine mission to compare prices at his father’s grocery competition; the expedition meets with comic results when the young boy refuses to be bullied in this David-and-Goliath-style parable. These semi-autobiographical stories, populated with outsized and magnetic characters, subtly layer the specifics of the Jewish experience with universals dilemmas of childhood, growing up, and old age.
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
ISBN: 9780815609322
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 224
Book Description
William Kaufman grew up on his mother’s kugel and his father’s boyhood stories. The son of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania and the Ukraine and one of five children, he learned how to translate his colorful childhood into tales of his own, regaling audiences of family, friends, and eventually his retirement community with periodic public readings. Now, at the age of 93, Kaufman makes his stories, filled with a sharp wit and telling detail, available to a wider audience for the first time. In the title story a young Jewish boy is shamed by his narrow-minded teacher when she forces him to admit, before the whole class, that his mother cannot read English. His mother’s eventual encounter with the teacher offers a lesson in self-respect with just the right balance of grace and moxie. In “The Search for God in the A & P” a young boy goes on a clandestine mission to compare prices at his father’s grocery competition; the expedition meets with comic results when the young boy refuses to be bullied in this David-and-Goliath-style parable. These semi-autobiographical stories, populated with outsized and magnetic characters, subtly layer the specifics of the Jewish experience with universals dilemmas of childhood, growing up, and old age.
The Day They Took My Uncle, and Other Stories
Author: Lionel G. Garcia
Publisher: TCU Press
ISBN: 9780875652351
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 254
Book Description
The Day They Took My Uncle and Other Stories is a collection of 15 shorts by novelist Lionel Garcia, dealing mostly with working-class and poor inhabitants of the southwestern U.S. Difficulties encountered by Latinos in America are a recurrent theme.
Publisher: TCU Press
ISBN: 9780875652351
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 254
Book Description
The Day They Took My Uncle and Other Stories is a collection of 15 shorts by novelist Lionel Garcia, dealing mostly with working-class and poor inhabitants of the southwestern U.S. Difficulties encountered by Latinos in America are a recurrent theme.
The Girl Who Cried Diamonds & Other Stories
Author: Rebecca Hirsch Garcia
Publisher: ECW Press
ISBN: 1778522033
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 220
Book Description
“Bridging tenderness and violence, and brimming with danger and magic, The Girl Who Cried Diamonds will leave you breathless.” — Anuja Varghese, author of Chrysalis “In these 14 hard-edged and unapologetic stories, debut author Garcia tackles topics ranging from human trafficking and drug abuse to eating disorders and middle-age angst, and in no-frills prose, carves out bizarre and palpable realities, breathing strange life into a horde of depressed, deprived, and abused characters.” — Publishers Weekly The boundaries between realist and fabulist, literary and speculative, are shattered in this remarkable debut collection for readers of Carmen Maria Machado, André Alexis, and Angélique Lalonde A girl born in a small, unnamed pueblo is blessed—or cursed—with the ability to produce valuable gems from her bodily fluids. A tired wife and mother escapes the confines of her oppressive life and body by shapeshifting into a cloud. A girl reckons with the death of her father and her changing familial dynamics while slowly, mysteriously losing her physical senses. Infused with keen insight and presented in startling prose, the stories in this dark, magnetic collection by newcomer Rebecca Hirsch Garcia invite the reader into an uncanny world out of step with reality while exploring the personal and interpersonal in a way that is undeniably, distinctly human.
Publisher: ECW Press
ISBN: 1778522033
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 220
Book Description
“Bridging tenderness and violence, and brimming with danger and magic, The Girl Who Cried Diamonds will leave you breathless.” — Anuja Varghese, author of Chrysalis “In these 14 hard-edged and unapologetic stories, debut author Garcia tackles topics ranging from human trafficking and drug abuse to eating disorders and middle-age angst, and in no-frills prose, carves out bizarre and palpable realities, breathing strange life into a horde of depressed, deprived, and abused characters.” — Publishers Weekly The boundaries between realist and fabulist, literary and speculative, are shattered in this remarkable debut collection for readers of Carmen Maria Machado, André Alexis, and Angélique Lalonde A girl born in a small, unnamed pueblo is blessed—or cursed—with the ability to produce valuable gems from her bodily fluids. A tired wife and mother escapes the confines of her oppressive life and body by shapeshifting into a cloud. A girl reckons with the death of her father and her changing familial dynamics while slowly, mysteriously losing her physical senses. Infused with keen insight and presented in startling prose, the stories in this dark, magnetic collection by newcomer Rebecca Hirsch Garcia invite the reader into an uncanny world out of step with reality while exploring the personal and interpersonal in a way that is undeniably, distinctly human.
I Saw Your Mother Crying
Author: Earl Hairston
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781537648804
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 138
Book Description
In 1986, a small town in West Virginia was under siege from cocaine and Jamaican posse's. This is the story of my life. I too was under siege to cocaine. A perfect storm of addiction, consuming everything in its wake, including me. It is the story of a mother's love for her son, her family, and her unrelenting efforts to break that siege in their lives. A story of redemption and salvation through a personal awakening and the efforts of a community that refused to watch the continued destruction. A roller coaster ride of blood, pain, tears, and fury. Told through the eyes of a man who found himself deep in the belly of a monster; swallowed whole by the white knuckle grip of addiction. A mother's love and her desperate attempt to break the cycle was the path to redemption, but would he choose to follow it?
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781537648804
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 138
Book Description
In 1986, a small town in West Virginia was under siege from cocaine and Jamaican posse's. This is the story of my life. I too was under siege to cocaine. A perfect storm of addiction, consuming everything in its wake, including me. It is the story of a mother's love for her son, her family, and her unrelenting efforts to break that siege in their lives. A story of redemption and salvation through a personal awakening and the efforts of a community that refused to watch the continued destruction. A roller coaster ride of blood, pain, tears, and fury. Told through the eyes of a man who found himself deep in the belly of a monster; swallowed whole by the white knuckle grip of addiction. A mother's love and her desperate attempt to break the cycle was the path to redemption, but would he choose to follow it?
Leaving Russia
Author: Maxim D. Shrayer
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
ISBN: 0815652437
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 376
Book Description
Narrated in the tradition of Tolstoy's confessional trilogy and Nabokov's autobiography, Leaving Russia: A Jewish Story is a searing account of growing up a Jewish refusenik, of a young poet's rebellion against totalitarian culture, and of Soviet fantasies of the West during the Cold War. Shrayer's remembrances ore set against a rich backdrop of politics, travel, and ethnic conflict on the brink of the Soviet empire's collapse. His moving story offers generous doses of humor and tenderness, counterbalanced with longing and violence.
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
ISBN: 0815652437
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 376
Book Description
Narrated in the tradition of Tolstoy's confessional trilogy and Nabokov's autobiography, Leaving Russia: A Jewish Story is a searing account of growing up a Jewish refusenik, of a young poet's rebellion against totalitarian culture, and of Soviet fantasies of the West during the Cold War. Shrayer's remembrances ore set against a rich backdrop of politics, travel, and ethnic conflict on the brink of the Soviet empire's collapse. His moving story offers generous doses of humor and tenderness, counterbalanced with longing and violence.
Shadows in Winter
Author: Eitan Fishbane
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
ISBN: 0815650752
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 155
Book Description
In March 2007, Leah Fishbane, a promising young graduate student in the prime of her life, was struck down suddenly with a undiagnosed brain tumor. In this deeply evocative memoir, written during the dark time of the first year following Leah’s death, her husband Eitan gives voice to the overwhelming power of grief and to the deep love that underlies such pain. He tells the story of his efforts to be a good father to his grieving four–year–old child and of his discovery of himself as a parent in ways he had not known before. Along this path, Fishbane asks fundamental questions about the meaning of death and life, about the place of God and faith in the experience of tragedy, reflecting on what it means to live with loss. The result is a poetic testament that will resonate with countless mourners and their loved ones. In giving honest expression to emotions that are at once particular and universal, Shadows in Winter offers a luminous window of comfort and hope to those battling the devastation of loss.
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
ISBN: 0815650752
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 155
Book Description
In March 2007, Leah Fishbane, a promising young graduate student in the prime of her life, was struck down suddenly with a undiagnosed brain tumor. In this deeply evocative memoir, written during the dark time of the first year following Leah’s death, her husband Eitan gives voice to the overwhelming power of grief and to the deep love that underlies such pain. He tells the story of his efforts to be a good father to his grieving four–year–old child and of his discovery of himself as a parent in ways he had not known before. Along this path, Fishbane asks fundamental questions about the meaning of death and life, about the place of God and faith in the experience of tragedy, reflecting on what it means to live with loss. The result is a poetic testament that will resonate with countless mourners and their loved ones. In giving honest expression to emotions that are at once particular and universal, Shadows in Winter offers a luminous window of comfort and hope to those battling the devastation of loss.
Bloodlines and other Stories
Author: Joyce Russell
Publisher: Mercier Press Ltd
ISBN: 1781171408
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 159
Book Description
Does a child come wailing into this world with the patterns that define it already beating in the blood? Do daughters ever believe that mother knows best and can a father come to respect the skills of a son? This collection of stories explores the ties that bind the generations together. It dips into the quiet beauty and the horrors of keeping those bonds intact. There’s lust and loyalty, joy and exploitation, innocence and trust, but deep in the heart of each story — from daughter to father perhaps, or mother to son — there is always the spark of love.
Publisher: Mercier Press Ltd
ISBN: 1781171408
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 159
Book Description
Does a child come wailing into this world with the patterns that define it already beating in the blood? Do daughters ever believe that mother knows best and can a father come to respect the skills of a son? This collection of stories explores the ties that bind the generations together. It dips into the quiet beauty and the horrors of keeping those bonds intact. There’s lust and loyalty, joy and exploitation, innocence and trust, but deep in the heart of each story — from daughter to father perhaps, or mother to son — there is always the spark of love.
Small Friends and other stories and poems
Author: Jane Morris
Publisher: African Books Collective
ISBN: 0797494502
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 74
Book Description
The short stories and poems in this collection were written by students at King George VI School and centre for physically disabled children in Zimbabwes second city, Bulawayo. HIV and AIDS have had a devastating effect on all the communities of Zimbabwe, and those with disabilities have not been exempt from the effects of the virus, as is reflected in many of the pieces in this collection. The book clearly demonstrates both the talent of the students and their concern about the issues facing their community and wider society. Some of the stories and poems tell the stories of their lives, some come straight from their imagination, and some simply speak of their dreams for a better future.
Publisher: African Books Collective
ISBN: 0797494502
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 74
Book Description
The short stories and poems in this collection were written by students at King George VI School and centre for physically disabled children in Zimbabwes second city, Bulawayo. HIV and AIDS have had a devastating effect on all the communities of Zimbabwe, and those with disabilities have not been exempt from the effects of the virus, as is reflected in many of the pieces in this collection. The book clearly demonstrates both the talent of the students and their concern about the issues facing their community and wider society. Some of the stories and poems tell the stories of their lives, some come straight from their imagination, and some simply speak of their dreams for a better future.
What My Mother and I Don't Talk About
Author: Michele Filgate
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 1982107359
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 288
Book Description
“You will devour these beautifully written—and very important—tales of honesty, pain, and resilience” (Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author of Eat Pray Love and City of Girls) from fifteen brilliant writers who explore how what we don’t talk about with our mothers affects us, for better or for worse. As an undergraduate, Michele Filgate started writing an essay about being abused by her stepfather. It took her more than a decade to realize that she was actually trying to write about how this affected her relationship with her mother. When it was finally published, the essay went viral, shared on social media by Anne Lamott, Rebecca Solnit, and many others. This gave Filgate an idea, and the resulting anthology offers a candid look at our relationships with our mothers. Leslie Jamison writes about trying to discover who her seemingly perfect mother was before ever becoming a mom. In Cathi Hanauer’s hilarious piece, she finally gets a chance to have a conversation with her mother that isn’t interrupted by her domineering (but lovable) father. André Aciman writes about what it was like to have a deaf mother. Melissa Febos uses mythology as a lens to look at her close-knit relationship with her psychotherapist mother. And Julianna Baggott talks about having a mom who tells her everything. As Filgate writes, “Our mothers are our first homes, and that’s why we’re always trying to return to them.” There’s relief in acknowledging how what we couldn’t say for so long is a way to heal our relationships with others and, perhaps most important, with ourselves. Contributions by Cathi Hanauer, Melissa Febos, Alexander Chee, Dylan Landis, Bernice L. McFadden, Julianna Baggott, Lynn Steger Strong, Kiese Laymon, Carmen Maria Machado, André Aciman, Sari Botton, Nayomi Munaweera, Brandon Taylor, and Leslie Jamison.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 1982107359
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 288
Book Description
“You will devour these beautifully written—and very important—tales of honesty, pain, and resilience” (Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author of Eat Pray Love and City of Girls) from fifteen brilliant writers who explore how what we don’t talk about with our mothers affects us, for better or for worse. As an undergraduate, Michele Filgate started writing an essay about being abused by her stepfather. It took her more than a decade to realize that she was actually trying to write about how this affected her relationship with her mother. When it was finally published, the essay went viral, shared on social media by Anne Lamott, Rebecca Solnit, and many others. This gave Filgate an idea, and the resulting anthology offers a candid look at our relationships with our mothers. Leslie Jamison writes about trying to discover who her seemingly perfect mother was before ever becoming a mom. In Cathi Hanauer’s hilarious piece, she finally gets a chance to have a conversation with her mother that isn’t interrupted by her domineering (but lovable) father. André Aciman writes about what it was like to have a deaf mother. Melissa Febos uses mythology as a lens to look at her close-knit relationship with her psychotherapist mother. And Julianna Baggott talks about having a mom who tells her everything. As Filgate writes, “Our mothers are our first homes, and that’s why we’re always trying to return to them.” There’s relief in acknowledging how what we couldn’t say for so long is a way to heal our relationships with others and, perhaps most important, with ourselves. Contributions by Cathi Hanauer, Melissa Febos, Alexander Chee, Dylan Landis, Bernice L. McFadden, Julianna Baggott, Lynn Steger Strong, Kiese Laymon, Carmen Maria Machado, André Aciman, Sari Botton, Nayomi Munaweera, Brandon Taylor, and Leslie Jamison.