David Bezmozgis's remarkable stories have already been acclaimed in the US and Canada when three appeared almost simultaneously in the New Yorker, Harper's and Zoetrope. In the space of a few weeks, these magazines introduced readers to the Bermans - Bella and Roman and their son Mark - Russian Jews who have fled the Riga of Brezhnev for Toronto, the city of their dreams. Natasha brings the Bermans - and the Russian Jewish enclaves of Toronto - to life in stories full of big, desperate, utterly believable consequence. In ...
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David Bezmozgis's remarkable stories have already been acclaimed in the US and Canada when three appeared almost simultaneously in the New Yorker, Harper's and Zoetrope. In the space of a few weeks, these magazines introduced readers to the Bermans - Bella and Roman and their son Mark - Russian Jews who have fled the Riga of Brezhnev for Toronto, the city of their dreams. Natasha brings the Bermans - and the Russian Jewish enclaves of Toronto - to life in stories full of big, desperate, utterly believable consequence. In 'Tapka', six-year-old Mark's first experiments in English bring ruin and near tragedy to the neighbours upstairs. In 'Roman Berman, Massage Therapist', Roman and Bella stake all their hopes for Roman's business on their first, humiliating dinner with a North American family. In the title story, a stark, funny anatomy of first love, we witness Mark's sexual awakening at the hands of his fourteen-year-old cousin, a new immigrant from the New Russia. Bezmozgis writes with clarity and compassion about the pains and joys of immigration. Sad but comic, his stories are the literature of an immigrant community whose story has yet to be told, and their chronicler possesses an extraordinary gift.
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Seller's Description:
Fair. Used book-May contain writing notes highlighting bends or folds. Text is readable book is clean and pages and cover mostly intact. May show normal wear and tear. Item may be missing CD. May include library marks. Fast Shipping.
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Seller's Description:
This is a used book in good condition and may show some signs of use or wear. This is a used book in good condition and may show some signs of use or wear.
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Seller's Description:
Fair. Buy with confidence! Comes with our 100% money back guarantee! ! Tracking included with every order! ! ! **** Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items **** All items ship Monday-Friday in a secure bubble mailer....The cover is clean but does show some wear....The cover has curled corners....The pages show normal wear....
This is a collection of short stories that reads more like a novel. The stories are all told by the same first person narrator who is a young boy in "Tapka" the first story in the collection and a grown man in "Minyan" the final story in the collection. The stories describe the experiences of a family of Soviet Era Russian Jews and their experience living as immigrants in Toronto.
The stories are populated with real and interesting characters. The tone is stark and somewhat bleak. The realism at times makes us think that there must be a fair amount of biographical details, especially judging by the information about Bezmozgis provided on the jacket flap.
The collection is on the short side. There is nothing earth-shattering or ground-breaking here. These are simple, but haunting stories told in a readable style.