O My America!

by Johanna Kaplan

Book Overview

A novel which begins with protagonist Ezra Slavin's unexpected death and then follows on with a reminiscence of his tempestuous career as a first-generation writer, teacher and radical. A particularly... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0815603282
• ISBN13: 9780815603283
• Release Date: October 1995
• Publisher: Syracuse University Press
• Length: 296 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Very funny family novel set in the craziness of the 1970s

A young woman tries find peace and meaning among the complicated relationships of her extended family. The largest character in her life is her father, a forceful, famous, charming, infuriating Jewish cultural figure. He is an emotional presence in several households, and she moves among them, interreacting with loves and lovers of several generations. The novel is touching and moving but also very funny. It's like a play: the characters talk a variety of languages: the grandparents' Yiddish-English, the parents' old-time Jewish socialist English, the young people's New York English of the 1970's. They all sound exactly right. I especially enjoyed revisiting the seventies, which in this version turn out to have been exactly the way I remember but even funnier.