A Polish maid in Berlin . . . an Irish nanny in New York . . . an American hippie in Tripoli . . . an East German born in Mongolia, bred in Shanghai, with bank accounts in three countries . . . With biting humor, Irene Dische recounts the small tragedies of people condemned by the vagaries of modern existence to a restless mobility. Dische's defectors, tourists, refugees expect freedom and change to lift their spirits, but they stumble under the weight of nostalgia. Dishche's prose is as strangely flavored as the lives she describes.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
All the characters in these 11 stories from an American writer living in Berlin find it impossible to make a clean break with the past. Those with romantic notions about freedom are invariably disappointed, although the reader is not, since Dische combines stylish prose with dark wit. "Portrait of a Defection" is the author's quintessential indictment of idealism: this story of an East German mathematician's methodical escape to the West opens with the words: "Once upon a time..." Enthusing to the Western press, the man announces, "It's like a fairy tale come true!"?but his idyll proves short-lived when his elderly mother, with whom he has shared a dreary apartment for years, announces that she is defecting, too. Like many others in this collection, the man can change his setting but can't alter his essential condition. Similarly, in "The Smuggled Wedding Ring," a couple who have fled Russia find themselves longing for the heavy gold ring?and all its symbolic baggage?that they left behind. Negative energy also drives the collection's opener, "Prior Conviction," the tale of a cynic who preaches that "rejection is much more important than affection." Even the elderly players in these stories prove to have learned little from their journies through life. Dische draws her international cast and their ironic tales of disillusion with distinctive strokes and sharp clarity, producing sharply individualistic, memorable portraits. Rights: Rowahlt Verlag; author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Dische, an American whose books are best sellers in Europe-her novel Pious Secrets (Viking, 1991) was translated into 15 languages-captures in many of her works the flavor of the German-Jewish neighborhood where she grew up. The result here is a warm and funny look at how the Old World influences events in the New, as tragedies, love, and loyalty are treated with a refreshing openness and sense of humor. In "The Doctor Needs a Home," for instance, Dische takes a warm-hearted look at her characters' frailties, while the title story contrasts Jews in Germany and America. "Innocent Vacation," which examines the author's own trip to Libya during the Ghaddafi revolution, shows that we can keep our sanity in an insane world by maintaining our innocence and learning to laugh. Blending satire and pathos, Dische's stories recall John Cheever's. Recommended for all libraries.
Vicki Cecil, Hartford City P.L., Ind.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Vicki Cecil, Hartford City P.L., Ind.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
strange americans, strange europeans,
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This review is from: Strange Traffic: Stories (Paperback)
laughing defines cultures. well, here is a book that has produced a lot of laughters and many more smiles in europe, and has become something of a classic in a certain form of dark humor. don't americans understand this kind of humor, or do germans laugh at strange things? the short stories presented in the book are all small gems in the detailed description of certain characters, normal characters, germans and americans, often jews, that at a certain point become....strange. Highly recommended for readers with an eye for irony, the small faiblesses of people, and happy ends....
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