Customer Reviews

The Last Chicken in America: A Novel in Stories

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

It's ironic that one reviewer here complained that the subjects of the stories in this collection aren't unique to immigrant life, since that very fact is one of the book's strengths: 'The Last Chicken' may be about a very specific immigrant community, but its stories explore themes that are universal to the human experience -- love, death, marriage, aging, jealousy, illness, struggle, joy. This, along with Litman's beautifully clean prose, subtle humor and empathy for her characters, is why the "The Last Chicken" is such a satisfying read.

To the Squirrel Hill residents who have come to vent their anger here: I hate to be the one to break it to you, but the fact that you find Litman's stories to be such an accurate depiction of the realities of your lives is the best possible endorsement you could give the book.

Naturally Litman has drawn on real people and situations to create her characters and stories; all fiction writers do. Ironically, the fictionalized portraits she has painted of Squirrel Hill's residents in her book are far more subtle and sympathetic than the portraits they've painted of their (non-fictional) selves here.

"The Last Chicken," is the best novel-in-stories I've read in years. Like her fellow immigrant-authors Jhumpa Lahiri, Amy Tan and Gary Shteyngart, Ellen Litman first and foremost tells a great story. When I read the stories in "The Last Chicken," I feel like I'm in Squirrel Hill, along with the characters, in their houses, eating the various Russian foods, having breakfast conversations over scratchy wooden tables. I worried for the people in the town. I wanted the men to win their wives back, to convince the IRS not to arrest them, to get the promotion they'd been scheming after; and for the women to finally meet a decent guy. The book immersed me in a different world--as cliched as it sounds, I feel like I learned something about another culture. The stories are so funny, smart, and wry, that they're worth reading again and again. And the visceral descriptions and the close perspective--the way the book subtly allows us to know what the characters are thinking and feeling--is masterful.

I'm not sure what that other reviewer was talking about. I thought the characters were smart, funny, and hot. I'd be flattered to be one of them. And who knows whether the book's "fiction" or not? Isn't it all "fiction?"

I thought I'd add my two cents worth. This is a wonderful little

collection of short stories, that accurately capture aspects of both

American life, as well as the rather quirky middle class concerns of a

little Pittsburgh Russian community.

I'd recommend this to anyone who's interested in American society as

seen through the eyes of outsiders, which is what many of these

characters are, in various ways. They're clearly American through and

through, yet they bring their unique cultural and philosophical

concerns with them, as baggage.

And its fascinating to see US society through the lens of these quite

accurately drawn characters, as they go about their daily lives, and

try to make sense of both their own existences, as well as the all

encompassing landscape of modern America.

Litman brings a cool and analytical eye to bear on US society, almost

accidentally, as her stories unfold - which makes it doubly fascinating

to read.

On a side note, disregard the quite hysterical review by the otherwise

charmingly-named 'fluffy' - who sounds like someone with an agenda.

Normal and sane book reviewers don't use words like 'defamation' and

'smearing' or 'self hatred' - unless there's some sort of weird personal

agenda at work. Who knows? Who cares. The book is great reading,

and has no hatred or negativity that I could see. If anything, there's

clearly a deep compassion for her quite fascinating characters,

who're struggling to make decent and happy lives for themselves,

in the often odd world of modern America.

I'd highly recommend this book, as it captures some interesting parts

of a sub-culture, and an American-immigrant reality, that most of us will

never see. Very nice work.

Ellen Litman is a wonderful new writer and I can't recommend this collection of stories too much (many are connected like threads in a novel). Litman's prose is a joy to read... clear, witty, moving and probes minute details without getting stuck in self-indulgence like some writers I've had to slog through. Yes, some of the characters were of more interest to me than others: a single mom in a world without men, a babysitter working for a joyless family. But you will acutely feel the stresses each of them feel trying to encounter and grasp this foreign culture into which they're trust. Litman understands the self-loathing and sense of inferiority internalized by immigrants, how so many men in this situation loose their sense of self and their power, forced to do jobs that are several steps 'below' what they were doing in the motherland. How they'll never really be Americans and the conflict surrounding whether they even want to be absorbed by the bizarre culture that surrounds them. The Last Chicken In America will have any reader thinking about what American culture is and isn't, and both how unnourishing and offering of opportunities the U.S. can be. I'm looking forward to Litman's next book.

I LOVED this book! To all you narrow-minded haters out there: these are stories about love and forgiveness. They are beautiful. I've read this book twice already and will read it again. To anyone who loves fiction, the way it can rescue us, BUY THIS BOOK.

I loved the book and enjoyed each story, particularly "Charity", "Dancers", "The Last Chicken in America", and "Russian Club". I think Ellen touched upon universal themes, accomplishing what Jumpa Lahiri did in her "Interpreter of Maladies" and "The Namesake".

I strongly disagree with those "fellow immigrants" who felt Litman exploited her neighbors' private lives. Yes, of course she has based her characters on her personal experiences, as any writer would, but I felt her view of the community was, in fact, quite sympathetic and honest. I too lived in Squirrel Hill at the time, but I cannot really say that any one character was 100% this person or that person (I recognized some peripheral characters such as "Dr. Knutchek" or "the old rat Gretchen"; the Slavic Dept. professor, and their names have been effectively changed). I think Litman tried to "speak" through her characters, imagine their lives and sentiments, be it an old lonely man, a young high school student, a single mother, etc. She did so brilliantly. Feelings of inadequacy specific to immigrants, the "distortion" of personality Masha mentions, becoming a girlfriend substitute, finding yourself lost and depending on people you normally would not be socializing with -- all of it certainly rings true.

I appreciate Masha's subtle humor and sarcasm, her unflinching look at herself (most importantly, at herself!) and others, and her understanding of human nature. As a writer, Litman manages to be compassionate without displaying overabundant sentimentality.

I also dare say revenge is a dish best served cold.

Ellen, I regret our paths did not cross then - we could have become good friends. I found the book extremely accurate, and herein lay its beauty! I cannot in all honesty say I feel nostalgic for the place or its people. But, I do think it is important to remember where you came from, so to speak (if one would view his early years in America as a kind of new beginning). If the book seems TOO accurate to some fellow "Squirrel-Hillans", I think they are missing the point.

I am looking forward to Ellen's next book.

I have been having trouble getting through fiction lately. This book cured me of that. A novel made of twelve stories. The vignettes introduce you to lives of new Russian immigrants; many from Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill Neighborhood. Each story is finely crafted.

The stories have themes and issues that most people can relate to - independence from your parents, your first job, dreams pursued, charmers, responsibility, and the importance of friends. Of the twelve, I especially liked "Russian Club", "Dancers" and the titular "The Last Chicken in America". There was not a single story I did not enjoy and I was sorry when the book ended. It was like someone telling you a series of incredible travel adventures and the story ends when they return home.

I liked the book so much I bought a copy for my sister. Though it has been more than thirty years since we graduated from High School and left Pittsburgh, her High School Language was Russian, she went to Pitt for her Graduate work and has lived in Squirrel Hill on and off over the years. I couldn't resist giving her a copy.

Ms. Litman describes both her native Russia and her adopted community (Pittsburgh's Oakland and Squirrel Hill neighborhoods) in a nuanced and evocative way that makes you eager to find out what the next story will be about. Unlike some novels composed of stories this one seems well sculpted and composed.

In this debut piece of literature, Ellen Litman demonstrates herself to be the true twenty-first century heir to Sherwood Anderson. Her command of the composite novel form is unrivaled: not since Winesburg have we been privy to the expansive world of a small-town community in such exquisite color.

What's more, as a former resident of Squirrel Hill myself (immigrated to the Pittsburgh suburb from Moscow when I was nine years old) this book transports me back from the cushy academic life I now lead back to the days when a Big Mac meant two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions on a sesame-seed mystery. Back then, America was formless and void in our minds, and Litman describes the process of discovery to sheer perfection.

Anyone who reads these stories will be inclined to hope that Ms. Litman is writing about them, about their lives, about their stories. I know I wish I could say that I knew her when . . . that I could lay some claim to inspiring a detail here or a shred of a fact there in her novel. But while, on the one hand, this place, this "Squirrel Hill," seems utterly like the place in which I grew up--to capture its sights and its smells and its sounds and its very ethos--it is, at the same time, a magical place of pure invention, a place we have all of us lived, and loved, and roamed in our imaginations. And at the same time we have never been there at all.

That is, Ellen Litman describes "home" to us as though it were wholly new. At the heart of her novel is this perfect paradox. Not bad for a first book. Not bad at all.

Ellen Litman's linked stories are filled with unforgettable characters who stuck in my head, days after I finished reading. So instead of picking up that crusty copy of The Idiot, I recommend picking up this wonderful book by a new, very talented russian writer.

Writers are truth-tellers. The best are unflinching in their honesty while remaining empathetic. Ellen Litman is one of these writers.

It does not surprise me that her characters seem all too real to some actual residents of Squirrel Hill. In fact, it validates what I suspected when I read the book: that these people are as alive as fictional characters can be. Yes, they are flawed and do some unpretty things every once in a while; that's exactly the point. Even the main characer, Masha, who some claim is the author's alter ego, is no hero; nor is she spared the scrutiny the other characters endure. If readers can't see that, they are simply bad readers.

Unlike far too many writers who tell stories of immigrants, Ellen Litman does not sugarcoat or paint a cliched rosy picture in some misguided attempt to honor her community. Instead, she shines a light on their lives, and that light reveals some difficult truths. Only by shining this light can the author reveal her characters as fully human -- an act that is, ultimately, the greatest honor she can give the Russian Jews of Squirrel Hill.