America and I: Short Stories by American Jewish Women Writers

by Joyce Antler

Overview

A collection of twentieth-century stories by Jewish women, featuring some of the best short story writers in American fiction. From Anzia Yezierska and Edna Ferber to Cynthia Ozick, Grace Paley, and Susan Fromberg Schaeffer, these writers reveal a rich, vital, and innovative tradition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807036075
Publisher:	Beacon Press
Publication date:	09/05/1991
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.75(d)

Editorial Reviews

Four generations of American Jewish women writers are represented in these 23 tales; Mary Antin and Edith Konecky explore the secondary role of women in Judaism, Hortense Calisher deals with generational conflict, a 1932 story by Tess Slesinger concerns abortion and Cynthia Ozick confronts the Holocaust. PW called this an ``absorbing collection . . . powerful and deeply moving.'' (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

This anthology of American Jewish women's experiences from 1900 to the present features for the first time the short stories of four generations of American Jewish women. The immigrant experience, which included poverty, anti-Semitism, assimilation, Jewish self-hatred, and intermarriage, are topics of many of the early stories, such as Edna Ferber's ``The Girl Who Went Right'' and Fannie Hurst's ``Seven Candles.'' Other stories portray the search for the meaning of one's Jewish heritage, caring for children, and the effort of Jewish women to find their way in America and to make America their own--as in the title story by Anzia Yezierska. Issues such as the Holocaust are depicted in Cynthia Ozick's ``The Shawl'' and Rebecca Goldstein's ``The Legacy of Raizel Kadish.'' The 23 stories in this collection reveal the full sweep of American-Jewish experiences in this century. Antler's erudite introduction is most valuable. An important addition to short story collections.-- Molly Abramo witz, Silver Spring, Md.

Library Journal

YA-- The stories in this collection are arranged chronologically from 1900 to the present. The writers, including Edna Ferber, Tillie Olsen, Joanne Greenberg, and Grace Paley, explore their heritage from a feminine viewpoint.

School Library Journal