What We Talk about When We Talk about Anne Frank
- set item rating to 0.5 out of 5.
- set item rating to 1 out of 5.
- set item rating to 1.5 out of 5.
- set item rating to 2 out of 5.
- set item rating to 2.5 out of 5.
- set item rating to 3 out of 5.
- set item rating to 3.5 out of 5.
- set item rating to 4 out of 5.
- set item rating to 4.5 out of 5.
- set item rating to 5 out of 5.
Add a Comment
Add Tags
Add More
Save to a List
-
Save to a Shared List
Print
Details
- Description
- Full Record
- Author Notes
- Contents
- Excerpts
- Reviews
- Summary
- A\\V Summary
Searching for more content…
"The author of the sensational national best seller For the Relief of Unbearable Urges returns with a commanding new collection of short stories: What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank establishes Nathan Englander beyond all doubt as the heir to Roth, Malamud, and Babel. A tour de force.
… More »"The author of the sensational national best seller For the Relief of Unbearable Urges returns with a commanding new collection of short stories: What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank establishes Nathan Englander beyond all doubt as the heir to Roth, Malamud, and Babel. A tour de force. The title story, inspired by Carver's masterpiece, is a comic classic, a provocative portrait of two marriages in which the holocaust is played out as a devastating parlor game. "Camp Sundown" is an outlandishly dark story of vigilante justice undertaken by a troop of geriatric campers in a bucolic summer enclave who recognize a fellow vacationer as a former Nazi guard. "Free Fruit for Young Widows" is a small, sharp study in evil. "Sister Hills" chronicles the history of the Israeli settlements from the eve of the Yom Kippur war through the present, a political story constructed around the tale of two mothers who strike a terrible bargain to save a child. A great leap forward from one of our most audacious and important writers, and a sensational literary event"--
« LessCommunity Activity
Find it at NYPL
Loading...
Other Formats
- Print Book: In-library use only
Comment
Add a CommentIt takes some pretty big matzo balls to invoke both Anne Frank and Raymond Carver in the title of your short story collection. Carver's "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" is one of the most discussed and influential modern American short stories and it casts a long shadow, one which Englander can't quite escape in his title story. Thankfully, the other stories in this 2012 collection, most of which focus on Jewish characters, history and themes, are more engaging and original. A worthwhile alternative to the overpraised stories of George Saunders that may appeal to fans of early Philip Roth.
Writing from a very Jewish perspective he tells real stories of Jewish people caught up in life. He sees to the heart of things quickly and usually has a twist in the end. Some stories were "too" jewish for me - I couldn't relate to the characters or sometimes the cultural idiosyncracies.
Though Nathan Englander's story collection focuses on Jewish characters, its themes are universal, often going from hilarious to heartbreaking in a single story. The title story is especially brilliant.
Stories about people who live under the cloud of Shoah.