O My America! by Johanna Kaplan

O My America! by Johanna Kaplan

A novel which begins with protagonist Ezra Slavin's unexpected death and then follows on with a reminiscence of his tempestuous career as a first-generation writer, teacher and radical. A particularly strong episode is that of the memorial service, with its unexpected speaker.

Kaplan brings to O My America! a large-minded, capacious intelligence, a vitality and a brilliant sense of irony She knows things the way George Eliot knows things and exhibits an astonishing power of rendering a whole society with virtuosity, energy, and explosive satireI am grateful to her for so much joy, so much brilliance, so much ingenuity! Johanna Kaplan is an original.

A remarkable first novel. . . . In unfolding the intricate and disorderly saga of Ezra Slavin, Johanna Kaplan has brought rare intelligence and satiric virtuosity to that overworked fictional subject, the American children of immigrant Jews. . . . Miss Kaplan has grasped the slippery and difficult nature of this man with such flawless authority that we
need no prototypes to understand him.

A novel to savor and think about, particularly the memorable memorial service with its unexpected speaker. A fitting, unemotional end. Whatever it is that the author has given to Ezra, it works brilliantly. A shrewd and generous novel. It brings to life a family, a culture, and several generations, but most of all it brings to life an American mensch.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780815603283
ISBN 10	0815603282
Title	O My America!
Author	Johanna Kaplan
Series	Library Of Modern Jewish Literature
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Syracuse University Press
Year published	1995-08-31
Number of pages	296
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.