Yudl

And Other Stories

By: Layle Silbert

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Paperback | 15 July 2013 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
240 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
20.7 x 14.1 x 2.2

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A previously unpublished novella, Yudl, and a selection of published stories from late photographer-turned-master of short fiction, Layle Silbert.

Set in 1920s Chicago, the short novel Yudl follows its eponymous protagonist, a middle-aged editor at a left-leaning newspaper calledThe Yiddish Courier. Yudl and his wife have decided to become landlords, purchasing avacant lot and hiring an acquaintance-aptly named Mason-to oversee the construction of their future apartment building. However, delays in the construction leave Yudl and his family without a home, forcingthem to stay with Mason and his family until the construction is finally complete. Told with wry wit and a masterful sensibility for metaphor, the story explores gender, Zionism, and the immigrant experience in the US.

The selection of short stories that follow the novel in this volume were selected by the author from her deathbed during her last weeks and then hours on earth. Silbert's graceful short stories focus on the family, allowing the reader glimpses of a child's happiness, thecripplingly contradictory demands of femininity, the complexity of grief, and a sustained meditation on life anddeath.

Industry Reviews

"The early immigration of Jews to America is almost forgotten now but there was a time when Yiddish/American culture was an important patch in the quilt we know as America. What is left is the wonderful Yiddish storytelling tradition that is also now being somewhat forgotten. The American dream here is depicted as both rewarding and fearful and 'the promise of freedom and prosperity is accompanied by anxiety, guilt and regret'." --Reviews by Amos

"Throughout this collection, Silbert's photographic experience adds light and shadow to her settings, while her minute observation of smell helps to re-create 1920s America. This is a slow-paced, thoughtful collection with elegant prose and ironic overtones." --Historical Novel Society

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