Small Bird Tell Me: Stories Of Greek Immigrants

by Helen Papanikolas

Overview

Helen Papanikolas has been honored frequently for her work in ethnic and labor history. Among her many publications are Toil and Rage in a New Land: The Greek Immigrants in Utah, Peoples of Utah (ed.), and her parents' own story of migration, Emily-George. With Small Bird, Tell Me, she joins a long and ancient tradition of Greek story-tellers whose art informs and enriches our lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780804009829
Publisher:	Ohio University Press
Publication date:	08/01/1994
Edition description:	1
Pages:	197
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

Editorial Reviews

Struggling and honest miners, the wandering gamblers who relieve them of their wages and the irresponsible, Americanized children of first-generation immigrants are among the predictable characters peopling this uninspired debut collection about the lives of Greek immigrants in Utah. The best story, ``The Coffeehouse Election of 1922,'' describes an immigrant community divided into opposing factions because of elections in Greece. Its charm lies in its uninflected, history-book prose, but this style does not always serve Papanikolas, a historian by profession, so well. ``The Letter Writer,'' for instance, is nothing more than a synopsis of its protagonist's life. Most of the characters are well-meaning and dull; a few, such as Zacharias in ``The Kamari of the Village,'' are vicious--and dull. Despite the obvious care the author takes in portraying this subculture accurately, her book remains lifeless. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly