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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Saroyan has suffered the undeserved fate of a once-popular writer who outlives the time when his voice seemed fresh and ingratiating, surviving into a period that regards his work as sentimental, folksy and old-fashioned. This new collection of 17 of his better storiesincluding the late pieces that ran in the New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly and Harper'sshould help restore the balance. Inevitably, most of the tales center on the more peculiar endearing aspects of Armenian-American family life in Fresno, Calif., featuring some of the zany characters who pranced through the collected works. Uncle Voratan of the title story is convinced a man is not a man until he's gone mad and that an immigrant can't really call America home until someone in the family dies and is buried there. Those who remember young Aram with affection will enjoy "Fire," where a baffled boy watches his Uncle Gumyaz torch a house for the insurance money; and in "The Last Word Was Love"one of the more poignant and moving taleswhen an older brother leaves home to escape the incessant squabbling of their parents. Sweetness in these stories sometimes gives way to archness or outrageous whimsy, and some tales succumb to excessive preaching. But Saroyan was a benign presence in American letters, as this collection attests.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
What a delight to find 17 of Saroyan's uncollected stories under one cover! To assemble these charming tales, all blessed with Saroyan's pixieish imagination and magical writing style, editor Hamalian sorted through works written from 1956 to 1981, 25 years of remarkable creativity. Those selected first appeared mainly in The New Yorker, Harper's, and Atlantic Monthly in the 1960s and 1970s, but even today they read as though they have been freshly minted from the Saroyan treasure house. A discovery for those who love Saroyan's fiction; his spark is still vibrantly alive.Glenn O. Carey, Eastern Kentucky Univ., Richmond
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Human and true,
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This review is from: Madness in the Family: Stories (New Directions Paperbook) (Paperback)
Saroyan at his best. Touching and funny short stories. Already lent it and lost it to someone who liked it even more.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
One of the few things all of the Bashmanians are agreed about is fire, which we love, as we do all things in the fire family: the sun, all reds and yellows, California poppies and sunflowers. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
winning limerick, inscribed copy Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, San Francisco, Kings River, Mayor Toomey, Masoor Franswah, American Boy, Arshaluce Ganjakian, Emerson School, Kristofor Agbadashian, Lord Chugger of Cheer, Aram Sevavor, Kristofor Under the Bed, Ventura Avenue New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
One of the few things all of the Bashmanians are agreed about is fire, which we love, as we do all things in the fire family: the sun, all reds and yellows, California poppies and sunflowers. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
winning limerick, inscribed copy Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, San Francisco, Kings River, Mayor Toomey, Masoor Franswah, American Boy, Arshaluce Ganjakian, Emerson School, Kristofor Agbadashian, Lord Chugger of Cheer, Aram Sevavor, Kristofor Under the Bed, Ventura Avenue New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
3
books
cite this book:
- A Daring Young Man: A Biography of William Saroyan by John Leggett on page 349, and page 352
- The Book of American Values and Virtues by Erik Bruun on page 603
- Conversations with Maxine Hong Kingston (Literary Conversations) by Paul Skenazy on page 169
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