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LERMAN/AMERICAN JEWISH FICTION BOOKS
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S c h a c h n o w i t z , S e l i g .
Fire in the sky.
Trans, by M.L. Mashinsky. New
York: N.T.T.S. Pubns., dist. by Philipp Feldheim, 1984. 274 p.
This tale o f Jewish life in the early eighteenth century Frankfort
Jewish ghetto finds Elsa, a rabbi’s daughter, betrothed to rabbinical
student Aryeh Loeb. Aryeh works as a traveling messenger and is
captured by bandits. When Aryeh is declared “dead,” the rabbis
attempt to solve the issue o f Elsa’s marital status.
S e g a l , L o r e .
Her first American.
New York: Knopf, 1985. 287 p.
As a youngjewish refugee from Europe, like Weissinix is brought
to America by her cousin in the early 1950s. Just twenty-one and still
naive, like journeys to the West to learn about the new land. It is in
“Cowtown, Nevada” that she meets middle-aged Carter Bayeaux, a
Blackjournalist who offers to teach her about America. Written with
sensitivity and humor.
S h o lom A le i c h em .
Nightingale.
Trans, by Aliza Shevrin. New York:
Putnam, 1985. 240 p.
This novel, subtitled “The Saga o f Yosele Solovey the Cantor,”
follows the successful Jewish musician from the religious Eastern
European community which nurtured him, to the tempting possibil
ities o f the secular world. A timeless story o f relationships and con
flicts.
S in g e r , I s a a c B a s h e v i s .
Gifts.
Trans, by Deborah Menashe, et al.
Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society o f America, 1985. 122 p.
A collection o f six o f the Nobel Prize winner’s previously unpub
lished stories. One o f these, “The Trap,” also appears in the original
Yiddish. The introduction offers insight into the author’s feelings
about writing.
_______________
The image and other stories.
Trans, by the author, Lester
Goran, et al. New York: Farrar, Straus Giroux, 1985. 310 p.
Each o f these twenty-two stories entertains although their charac
ters are less comic than in previous collections. They are their own
victims, exploiting others, overly indulging in passions and always
waiting for divine retribution.
T
ammuz
, B
enjamin
.
The orchard.
Trans, by Richard Flantz. Providence,
RI: Copper Beech Press, dist. by Persea Books, 1984. 88 p.
Set in Palestine during the period spanning the final days o f Otto
man rule to the Sinai Campaign o f 1956, this novel focuses on broth
ers representing two separate worlds, one a Jew and the other a
Muslim.
Y a t e s ,
W.R.
Diasporah.
New York: Baen Books, 1985. 307 p.
A fast-paced novel o f space intrigue finds the hero Paul Green
berg on a United Nations mission to investigate a mystery at the Isra
eli colony on the far side o f the moon. The investigation turns
inward as Greenberg for the first time confronts his heritage.