Natasha and Other Stories
2 journalers for this copy...
Hardcover, 1st Canadian edition.
I was tickled to find this one at the Millennium Library's used book table. I had actually wanted to read this when HarperCollins had offered it up in their "First Look" program and was disappointed when they didn't send me a copy. I've been meaning to buy it ever since.
I was tickled to find this one at the Millennium Library's used book table. I had actually wanted to read this when HarperCollins had offered it up in their "First Look" program and was disappointed when they didn't send me a copy. I've been meaning to buy it ever since.
When I was a teenager, my parents moved their family, (at the time much against my selfish teenaged will) to a larger community and to an area of that city that might be called Little Italy. So all my new friends were Italians. I am not Italian. When I came home from school my parents spoke to me in English. When I went to the Lillians' homes, their mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers spoke to them and hence to me in Italian!. When I came home from school, my brothers were twerbs and not fit to spend any time with. When I went to the Lillians', their brothers (and their sisters too, but mainly their brothers) were fascinating and smart and handsome. When my mother shopped for chicken she bought it at Safeway or A&P in plastic covered trays. When the Lillians had chicken for supper, their grandmothers bought live chickens and first had to lop their heads off in the back yard. God, I loved the Lillians and their families. And I still have a little nostalgic fondness for Italian men.
And that's how it was with this book. God, how I loved Mark Berman and his family. Mark Berman is not Italian. He and his family are Russian Jews who came to Canada in the 1980's and the stories follow them from Mark's childhood to his early adulthood as the family tries to adjust to a new country. Sometimes the stories were funny and sometimes sad, sometimes touchingly sad and funny at the same time. But all of them had this refreshing "newness" or "sense of discovery" to them, the same thing that I relished as a teenager with the Lillians. Imagine having a father who was a massage therapist ("Roman Berman, Massage Therapist") or having a weight-lifter as your childhood idol ("The Second Strongest Man") or imagine attempting to get in to a subsized retirement home as Mark's grandfather does and learning that there's a waiting list (not all that unusual) but that your chances of getting in might just be a little better if you happened to be a pious Jewish man (because the building had its own synagogue that was having difficulty forming a minyan).
My only regret about this book was that it was too short - seven stories in all. I would have been happier with twice that many.
Highly recommended!
---to be continued---
And that's how it was with this book. God, how I loved Mark Berman and his family. Mark Berman is not Italian. He and his family are Russian Jews who came to Canada in the 1980's and the stories follow them from Mark's childhood to his early adulthood as the family tries to adjust to a new country. Sometimes the stories were funny and sometimes sad, sometimes touchingly sad and funny at the same time. But all of them had this refreshing "newness" or "sense of discovery" to them, the same thing that I relished as a teenager with the Lillians. Imagine having a father who was a massage therapist ("Roman Berman, Massage Therapist") or having a weight-lifter as your childhood idol ("The Second Strongest Man") or imagine attempting to get in to a subsized retirement home as Mark's grandfather does and learning that there's a waiting list (not all that unusual) but that your chances of getting in might just be a little better if you happened to be a pious Jewish man (because the building had its own synagogue that was having difficulty forming a minyan).
My only regret about this book was that it was too short - seven stories in all. I would have been happier with twice that many.
Highly recommended!
---to be continued---
Journal Entry 3 by Pooker3 at Park Theatre & Movie Cafe in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada on Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Released 14 yrs ago (2/9/2010 UTC) at Park Theatre & Movie Cafe in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
If there's no takers at tonight's meet up I'll leave this book on the shelf in the loft.
If there's no takers at tonight's meet up I'll leave this book on the shelf in the loft.
This book is currently sitting on the Winnipeg Official Bookcrossing Zone bookshelf in the loft of The Park Theatre & Movie Café, 698 Osborne Street, Winnipeg MB.
It is waiting there for a new reader to take home, read, and release back into the wild!
Winnipeg bookcrossers meet at my location on the second Tuesday of every month at 7pm to chat about books, swap great reads, and release on the OBCZ shelves. Please join us! We love to see new faces! You will enjoy the comfy atmosphere, the fabulous coffees and teas, and the yummy treats!
It is waiting there for a new reader to take home, read, and release back into the wild!
Winnipeg bookcrossers meet at my location on the second Tuesday of every month at 7pm to chat about books, swap great reads, and release on the OBCZ shelves. Please join us! We love to see new faces! You will enjoy the comfy atmosphere, the fabulous coffees and teas, and the yummy treats!
