Bark, Sandra, ed. Beautiful As the Moon, Radiant As the Stars. Jewish Women in Yiddish
Stories: An Anthology     
    Most of the twenty-two stories in this wonderful anthology are set in pre-
Holocaust Europe and Russia, also a time of great political, social and
economic change.  These changes are depicted through the experiences of
the Jewish women whose lives are described in these tales: some stories
are about coming of age and the first stirrings of sexuality, and many concern
youthful rebelliousness before parental authority.  The Yiddish writers included
here are largely unknown, and they are nearly all women with the exception of
the masters Sholom Aleichem and Isaac B. Singer.
    This is a unique collection which will be treasured by lovers of fine writing,
but it’s special importance stems from the way these stories so beautifully
evoke this vanished time and place in Jewish culture.  The collection opens with
a poem whose last line is: “Somewhere I’ve left my heart aside”, and this sense
of longing, and regret, permeates most of the stories, leaving us grateful for
these written memories.
                                            Suzanne McGuire - Commack Public Library

Bass, Rick .
    Best known for his explorations of the relationship between man and nature, Bass
is considered to be one of the foremost writers concerned with the treatment of
the environment. While he frequently writes in essay and journal form (sometimes
termed "creative nonfiction," in which he combines observations of the natural
world with personal reflections), Bass is also recognized as an accomplished
fiction writer. His fictional characters are noted for their realistic
portrayals and for their placement in peculiar situations, in which they often
exhibit a deep connection to their environments. Bass's tenacious
preservationist ideals and his introspective writing style have garnered much
attention, and he is widely regarded as an innovative contributor to
contemporary American literature.  His works would be recommended for any young
adult or adult reader concerned with outdoors life and the environment, whether
they enjoy those things themselves or want to experience them vicariously.
Probably not recommended to those who fiercely oppose hunting.
                                  Kathleen L. Scheibel - South Country Public Library

Binchy, Maeve. London Transports
    London Transports is a collection of 22 short stories, set in London.  Each
title is actually a stop on the London train line.  Characters are introduced
immediately and each short plot is developed in a unique style.  Readers will
find themselves getting into the minds of the characters as they experience
everyday life.  The stories are both cheerful and sad.  Endings are astonishing
and without logic.
    Some of the issues covered are:  A compulsive shopper’s expeditions and family
in “Bond Street;” finding a new apartment in “Queensway;” having an affair with
a married man in “Lancaster Gate;” a dress designer’s live-in boyfriend’s
blunder in “Warren Street;” conflicts in a family in “Easton;” abortion in
“Shepherd’s Bush;” wife swapping in “Seven Sisters;” and showing an assistant
manager how to get ahead in “King’s Cross.”
    Even though the endings are not conventional, readers will enjoy these light and
fun to read stories.
                                                                        Terry Gearty

Bloom, Amy. A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You
    Amy Bloom’s collection of short stories revolves around characters that are
faced with tragic circumstances. In two of her stories women are dying of
cancer, two more involve the death of a child and another depicts a man coping
with the last stages of Parkinson’s disease. In these stories we see how the
characters learn to cope with their situations as well as how they relate to
their families and friends. Amy Bloom’s writing is very genuine . The characters
in her short stories are ordinary people who are faced with extraordinary
circumstances.  And, although she writes of the effects of  tragedy on humanity,
she does end many of her stories with a glimmer of hope.
                                               Vicki Lever - Babylon Public Library

Calvino,Italo.  – a sampling!
    Numbers in the Dark
    The Man Who Shouted Teresa – a case of crowd mentality
    A General in the Library – the “dangers” of knowledge
    Beheading the Heads – a dire, but interesting political commentary
    Glaciation – troublesome ice cubes
Memoirs of Casanova – a tell-all
Difficult Loves
    The Adventure of a Reader – the parallel between reading and making love
Cosmicomics
    The Distance of the Moon – a trip to the moon using a rowboat and a ladder
    All at One Point – the entire universe in one spot
Read-alikes:
Isaac Babel
Alberto Moravia
Cesare Pavese
Domenico Rea
                                         Grace O’Connor - West Islip Public Library

Carver, Raymond.
  Raymond Carver’s first collection of short stories, Put Yourself in My Shoes,
appeared in 1974 and was followed by Will You Please be Quiet, Please? in 1976
which established his reputation and introduced his central themes. Most
prevalent among these is the issue of love and its bearing on marriage and
individual identity.  Much of what he wrote was based on his own experiences in
the Pacific Northwest. “…everything we write is, in some way, autobiographical,”
he said in an interview.  Carver depicted the quiet desperation of white and
blue collar workers, salesmen, waitresses, showing their sense of betrayal and
inability to express their deepest thoughts. Things are often left unspoken and
conflicts unresolved, with the meaning of the story only revealed through
implications.  His prose may be muted, but the atmosphere is tense, evoking the
mood of Pinter or Kafka. Rejecting the more experimental fiction of the 60s and
70s, Carver became a leading figure among writers known for their gritty
depictions of everyday life, like Richard Ford, Tobias Wolff, Ann Beattie, and
Jayne Anne Philips.  In “Why Don’t You Dance?” from Where I’m Calling From
(1989), a man whose marriage has failed, sells his furniture in a yard sale. A
young couple shows some interest and they dance together in the driveway at the
man’s suggestion.  The surfaces of Carver’s stories seem calm and banal, but
especially his portrayals of marital problems are full of emotional tension,
hidden memories, wounds, longing, hate, anxiety and melancholy.
                          Arlene Leventhal - Half Hollow Hills Community Library

Deaver, Jeffrey. Twisted                            
    Deaver's collection of short stories is a treat to his fans. The stories live
up to the title, Twisted, in many ways. There are many bends, surprises and
plot twists as well as a rich assortment of characters ranging from murderers,
thieves, adulterers, con artists and other questionable sorts.
    The best thing about each story is that the reader doesn't really know what the
story is about until the very end. What is expected to happen, doesn't. The
ending comes as a complete surprise and the reader will wonder why he hadn't seen it
coming.
    Deaver's amazing range and plot twists have earned him "master of ticking bomb
suspense.”
                                             Rosalie Toja - Brentwood Public Library

Gautreaux, Tim. Welding With Children
    There is a strong sense of place in Tim Gautreaux's stories in Welding With
Children. The characters' names, the cadence of the conversation, even the
heat, tell of rural Louisiana. His often humorous stories are about ordinary
people doing ordinary things and frequently involve elemental moral
dilemmas.  The title story in this collection is about a grandfather who
realizes that he has not done a good job raising his daughters and the sins
of the father are being visited on his daughters' children. "Misuse of
Light" is about a camera repairman who uncovers a different ending to a sad
story that is decades old.  "Good for the Soul," reminds us of what grace
is. This story is about a priest who has had one brandy too many and then
makes a sick call that is the beginning of a chain of events both funny and
poignant. Gautreaux lives up to his belief that "no story is interesting
unless it deals with matters of values."
    People who enjoy Southern writing, especially Lee Smith and Clyde Edgerton,
will also enjoy Tim Gautreaux.
                                         Michelle Epstein - East Northport Library

Keane, John B.
    John B. Keane was born in Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland in 1928.  He grew up
in a family of 10 children, adored Kerry, which is a proud and independent
county that juts into the Atlantic on the southwest coast of Ireland.  His
parents were actively involved in the Irish struggle for independence from
Britain and he remained a lifelong supporter of Fine Gael, the party founded by
Michael Collins.  John B., as he was known, wrote novels that met with popular
success but it was his stage writing that struck a nerve in Irish society.
“What made him a genuine folk dramatist was his refusal to take on face value
the notion that Irish country people were simple, devout creatures,” wrote
critic Finan O’Toole in The Irish Times.  “He imagined their world as an almost
medieval one, in which the forces of darkness and of light, the devils and the
angels, were at war.”
    Mr. Keane wrote his first play when he was 30.  It was rejected by the Abbey,
Ireland’s National Theater, but received an All-Ireland Drama Prize in 1959.  He
was a prolific playwright, producing seven plays over the next four years.
Mr.Keane wrote 18 plays and 32 works of prose  and poetry.  The 1986 novel, “The
Bodhran Makers,” is regarded as among his best work—“I was writing about people
I knew. . .They’re all gone now, but they made me their spokesperson and I felt
a responsibility to tell their story, to preserve a wonderful tradition in
written form.”  Mr. Keane is survived by his wife and three sons, a daughter,
and a large extended family.  He was one of the most respected literary figures
of the 20th century in Ireland and the president and prime minister both offered
tributes when is death was announced in 2002.
    Perhaps speaking to a nephew, Feargal Keane, a reporter for the BBC, best sums
up his advice on writing: ”Don’t mind the big fellows.  They can look out for
themselves.  Listen out for the small man.  He will tell you the truth.”
                                       Marie T. Horney - Cold Spring Harbor Library
 

Lahiri, Jhumpa. Interpreter of Maladies
    A lyrical collection of stories focusing on arranged marriages, assimilation
from Indian to American culture sometimes integral sometimes incidental to the
stories, universal themes all combine to make this a work of distinction.  In “A
Temporary Matter” the reader feels the heartache of a young couple who are
struggling with the loss of their baby and their crumbling marriage; we hope
through the eyes of a child for the safety of Mr. Pirzada’s family who are left
behind in Dacca, as she watches the 6:30 news in “When Mr. Pirzada Came to
Dinner” (pg31); and the disappointment of Mr. Kapasi who had dreams of being an
interpreter for diplomats who now moonlights as a doctor’s interpreter of
maladies when not serving as a tour guide.
    This collection won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 2000 and was an
unlikely choice as a debut work and also a short story collection.  It is a
magnificent work of literature, she paints a picture and captures the lives of
South Asian immigrants, displaced persons, young and old.   Interpreter also won
the PEN/Hemingway Award and was honored as debut of the year by The New Yorker .
Read-alikes
The Unknown Errors of Our Lives  by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Where the Grass is Long: Stories  by Neela Vasevani
                                          Peggy McCarthy - Smithtown Public Library

McCracken, Elizabeth. Here’s Your Hat, What’s Your Hurry.
    A wonderful collection of stories focusing on offbeat, yet sympathetic
characters. McCracken creates amazing, fully realized people in only a few short
pages in this collection of nine stories.
    The title story features Aunt Helen Beck, who makes her living moving from
relative to relative, before one of her many “nephews” realizes that she’s not
even part of the family. Aunt Helen Beck comes alive because she is like the
aunt all of us have, the one whose visits we dread, yet who is somehow endearing
and unforgettable.
    The story “It’s Bad Luck to Die,” tells the tale of an awkward 6-foot young
woman, who only becomes comfortable with her self and her body after she marries
and becomes the test canvas for Tiny, the town’s tattoo artist and a man 30
years her senior.
    “What we know of the Lost Aztec Children,” offers a little boy who has always
seen his mother as a plain old everyday mom, but realizes, after the family
takes in one of her old circus buddies, that the outside world will always see
her as the “Armless Wonder.” She has no arms, and performs most tasks using her
feet. The boy cannot see how other people can see his mother or her friend as
anything less than human.
    Quite a few of the stories feature unconventional characters. McCracken has
remarked that the inspiration for some of the stories came from perusing the
Guinness Book of World Records and photos of circus freak shows. Many stories
feature the interaction between “freaks” and otherwise outwardly “normal”
people. The reader is often left to ponder the old adage, that the people inside
the asylum are the sane ones, while those outside are the real crazies.
McCracken’s “freaks” are usually the most truly human and caring of all.
    Read-a-Likes include writers who often feature characters who are quite quirky.
I would include Eric Kraft, John Irving, Anita Brookner, Anne Tyler, Van Reid,
and Dan Chaon.
                            Bruce Silverstein - Patchogue-Medford Public Library

Munro, Alice. Friend of My Youth: Stories
    With a strong sense of place and time, Canadian author and storyteller Alice
Munro paints pictures of the people living in rural Ontario. Without mincing
words, she allows the reader to imagine in great detail the setting and
personalities of the characters. The reader feels they are there, watching
scenes of the character’s life through a window. These stories will be enjoyed
by women who enjoy old-fashioned storytelling and reminisces of a past events
and people.
                                         Karen Jaffe - Comsewogue Public Library

Russo, Richard. The Whore’s Child and Other Stories
    Richard Russo’s collection of short stories draws the reader in to the emotional
worlds of several characters.  The titular character, Sister Ursula, who as a
youngster was designated the whore’s child by the cruel residents of the nunnery
she was abandoned at, is not, as would be expected, the main character of the
story.  In fact, the main character of The Whore’s Child is Sister Ursula’s
neighbor, an English professor, whose fiction writing class she is taking as an
unregistered student.  The personas of the main character and Sister Ursula are
revealed through the perceptions of the main character.  This remains true for
the other stories in this collection, where the main characters uncover
revelations about themselves through experiencing other characters’ lives.  This
is evident in the short story “Joy Ride”, where a twelve-year-old boy learns
about himself and his mother in the course of a road trip they share.  Russo’s
stories are not eventful in terms of actions, but the subtle unfolding of
reflective characters move the stories forward.  The stories appear to be
unrelated by characters, but their themes of personal epiphany and development
are consistent, whether the main character is an English Professor or a
twelve-year-old boy.      
Read-Alikes:
The Short Stories of: Raymond Carver, D.H. Lawrence, and Flannery O’Connor
                                      Ilana Beckerman - West Babylon Public Library

Trevor, William. After Rain
    There is a reason why William Trevor is considered one of the finest short story
writers of modern times, and that’s his ability to meticulously represent the
human condition in a few short pages, or even a few short words. Trevor’s
writing style has awarded him a reputation that is admired by readers and
writers alike. In his collection After Rain, Trevor skillfully demonstrates his
ability to detail the dilemma that is the human condition. The disappointment of
failed expectation and the consequence of chance are integral elements in
Trevor’s depiction of the lives of everyday people in everyday situations.
Protagonists in this collection experience the tragic results of their life
choices. In Widows two sisters react to the deaths of their spouses in very
different ways; in Lost Ground a young man feels the need to become a preacher
after a visit from a mysterious woman; and in The Piano Tuner’s Wives a woman is
consumed by the memory of her husband’s first wife. The title story, After Rain,
explores the various emotions that accompany the end of both a love affair and a
family tradition. Trevor’s use of language and metaphor, his ability to capture
the obvious as well as nuance, is so masterful that one not only reads his
works, but experiences them as well.
                             Deborah Formosa - Northport-East Northport Public Library


RASD Main Page Updated June 18, 2007