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The Unamericans: Stories (2014)

by Molly Antopol(Favorite Author)

4.05 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0393349969 (ISBN13: 9780393349962)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

review 1: Antopol's pearly prose documents the lives of several dislocated and/or lonely Jews fumbling their way through life's traps and disappointments. These stories are deftly written but suffer a bit from what I call crescendo-itis (punchy endings where characters experience sudden, not-always-convincingly-earned realizations of devastating emotional clarity). Perhaps I am being unkind; this is much better on the whole than a debut collection of short stories has any right to be, and it's a hell of a lot better than the similarly titled immigrant novel "The Book of Unknown Americans" that was also released this year. Antopol is definitely a writer I'll be keeping my eye on, and I look forward to her future work.
review 2: Ok I'm going to have to stop saying short... more stories aren't my thing. These are brilliant and heart wrenching and as close to the perfect short stories I've ever had the pleasure of reading. There are nine stories total and though they aren't linked they share common themes and tones. One of my complaints about short stories is that the characters always feel flat to me and I can never relate to them. The absolute opposite is true in this collection. I understand the author is working on her first novel which I will be eagerly awaiting. less

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