Fabulous Small Jews by Joseph Epstein

Fabulous Small Jews Reviews

• 
  Brian

  FINALLY!!! A great book of short stories each of which has the strength to stand on its own. The theme is the Jewish American experience: parental expectations, vagaries of luck, guilt, drive, true measures of success or meaningfulness. Laughs, tears, fears: it moved me enough to say this- READ THIS BOOK!!! Each story is powerful and polished. The criticism by others is that nothing new is explored. BAH, HUMBUG!!! Nothing new has been explored since the Greek tragedies. "Nu? What's to explore?"
• 
  Anthony Lipmann

  This book has a lovely title and was bought for me by my wife for my birthday as she has the blessing to be married to one of the subjects of this book. I am so delighted that she bought it for me as something of such apparent sectarian interest would rather put me off than stimulate my interest. In fact the book is a series of short stories, beautfully observed, that tell of unsuspecting heroics from unprepossesing raw material. I will say no more - but just read it and laugh and cry with me.
• 
  Pablo

  For the most part, this book makes me want to shoot myself in the face. It's well written, though there's nothing in Epstein's style that stands out; no flourishes, no genius, just straight-forward story telling. Sadly, these stories feel redundant - old men who've abandoned their families in some way or another, and I couldn't helped but feel bogged down in their self-made misery.
• 
  Richard Jespers

  There is so much to like about these eighteen stories mostly featuring characters over the age of sixty. Indeed, as the title suggests, each protagonist is short, yet Epstein never makes a to-do about it, and indeed it is a point of irony because many of them, though short in stature, are not small people. In fact, Epstein pulls readers into every narrative about poor Jews, poor Jews who become comfortable or well-off, or Jews who have always had money. Most everyone in these Chicago-based stories attends good schools, earns good money. But money alone cannot in any way make up for the heartache they suffer: marriages ending in divorce; fathers who die in war; widows looking (or not) for a man to fill their lives. Fabulous small Jews have their own stores, their own banks, their own restaurants and delis, their own you-name-its. Epstein very quietly limns the lives of Jews almost anywhere in the world: because of prejudices held against them for thousands of years they must band together to protect, coddle, nurture, and love one another. And yet, readers can’t help but love these characters, too: an old man belatedly gets to know his grandson (I cried); a man secretly writes poems about a woman and the executor of his will, to preserve the woman’s reputation, instead of burning the manuscript, spreads it to the four winds from his car window on the freeway; a man quietly helps another man to end his life. Is the act one of suicide, euthanasia, or murder? Epstein does not answer that question but leaves it to each reader to decide, and I admire his courage in taking such a stance.
  
  A must-read for Gentiles (like me).
  
• 
  Chelsey

  This was another one of those free books I got from a rack outside of some bookstore in Nashville. I thought this book was about absolutely nothing I could relate to - it's a collection of short stories, all about Jewish, retirement-aged men in Chicago. But that's the beautiful thing about literature - certain themes are universal. In this book, those universal themes were loneliness, longing, fear of death, and the idea of what kind of "legacy" we leave behind. I recommend it - even if you're not Jewish or retired :)
• 
  Mindy

  I really liked this collection of short stories. I was drawn in to each character and loved how each story left you with the main character either making or living with a major life decision. My favorites were "Artie Glick in a Family Way," "Don Juan Zimmerman," "A Loss for Words," and "Uncle Jack."
• 
  Alice

  A jewel of a book!
  Would like to send a copy to six friends and then have a
  book group discussion.
• 
  Barbara

  Lovely writing and astonishing insight into the characters. I just kept thinking how "true" it all was as I read this group of fictional stories. Nice work, Mr. Epstein. I will read some more.
• 
  Howard Jaeckel

  I am, to put it mildly, a big fan of Joseph Epstein. In fact, in my considered, if not especially informed – and certainly not weighty – opinion, he is the greatest living American writer. Include the dead ones and he still ranks very, very high.
  
  Epstein is primarily known as a premier essayist, and I first came across his work in short pieces he wrote for the "Wall Street Journal," "Commentary" and the old "Weekly Standard." Once you’ve read a few of those, you will immediately want to read any piece bearing his byline, giving it priority over anything else on the page or in the publication. His incisiveness, wit and wisdom will leave you looking for more.
  
  So, having learned that Mr. Epstein also did short stores, when I needed a break from an important but tedious history I was reading, his collection "Frozen in Time" was a natural choice. I loved it and quickly acquired a copy of "The Love Song of A. Jerome Minkoff," warning myself as I did not to let fiction unduly divert me my “golden years” objective of reducing, to some degree, my impressive ignorance on a wide variety of important subjects. Like the collection I had read earlier, the stories in "Minkoff "were immediately engrossing, highly entertaining and, not infrequently, very touching.
  
  It’s a measure of how good a writer Mr. Epstein is, of the high expectations created once one gets a taste of him, that I was initially somewhat disappointed with "Fabulous Small Jews." Why, there were actually some stories in this collection that I didn’t love! There was even one that I didn’t quite understand (“The Master’s Ring”). What’s with that, Epstein? Aren’t you aware that I’ve praised you to the skies for your accessibility?
  
  I should have delayed that rather spoiled reaction until I finished the book, the last stories of which are particularly strong. If more than a third of the stories in a collection are memorable and most of the rest are merely good; if one has been made to laugh out loud several times while reading the stories, and once or twice when recalling something from them hours later; if one hasn’t fallen asleep even once when reading until two in the morning or later, isn’t that enough?
  
  The characters Epstein writes about in "Fabulous Small Jews" are mostly older or elderly men living without women because they are divorced, widowed or never married. They deal with regret, loneliness, aging, and the encroaching specter of mortality without self-pity, but rather with dignity and not a little humor. Nor have these characters given up on life, but remain sufficiently open to other people and happenstance events to allow for the possibility of new relationships and renewed meaning. Thus, there is a strong life-affirming air to many of these stories, but they are not pollyannaish; in one case, Epstein delivers a twist ending showing that people of any age who are bitter and purposefully isolated are likely to remain that way.
  
• 
  Barbara Rhine

  This is a set of 18 short stories, and I read them all. And I liked them, though I'm one who generally prefers novels to the short story form. But these are well-written, straightforward and interesting. And bleak, especially about aging. And the overwhelming majority of narrators are male. And no one seems interested in a world broader than his own likes and dislikes. Still, though, if you are interested in the Jewish working class and middle class world in Chicago from the 1930's on up, these are worth your while.
• 
  Mike

  How Epstein can write! Smart and funny, with many relatable topics --- aging (“dementia … the slide into full gaga”), sadness versus positiveness, marriage, divorce, bachelorhood, childlessness, etymology. (Having one’s “ashes hauled”, in Felix Emeritus)
  
  “Postcards” (“And why don’t I call you Manny, short for maniac.”) brought to mind the epic pranks in “Letters From a Nut”.
  
  https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/sho...
• 
  juulferg

  Recently re-read this book of short stories that my sister gave me years ago, reminiscent as it is of our cherished Jewish family in the Midwest. Enjoyed it again. Contains 3 or so particularly endearing stories, the rest are good too. Probably most interesting to people with Jewish American background but well enough written to appeal to others too.
• 
  Diana

  Sweet, small stories ... took me a bit of time to get through, though I did enjoy.
• 
  Jake Cooper

  Bonus points for Chicago Yiddishkeit -- my hometown of Glencoe is mentioned probably 20 times -- but otherwise adequate stories.
• 
  Jil

  First two stories were great...didn't like the rest!
• 
  Heidi Green

  Epstein has great empathy and insight into his men. Female characters are not so real.
• 
  Steve Gross

  Excellent but somewhat depressive writing, exclusively about older, male Chicago Jews.
• 
  Daniel

  There's a certain sameness to the short stories in "Fabulous Small Jews," almost all of which are about aging, lonely, Jewish men living in Chicago. It's not just the subject matter that's the same, but even certain turns of phrase -- one in particular comes to mind, about a magazine that has more potential contributors than readers -- come up more than once. That's not to say it's a bad book -- it's well-written, and some of the stories are quite effective on an emotional level -- but it should be read in small doses to avoid the feeling that the same short story is being rewritten over and over.
• 
  Michael Baranowski

  Not exactly a short story cycle, but all of the carefully crafted stories in this collection do, in fact, feature small Jews (in some cases, their fabulousness is a matter of debate). Epstein will never be a household name (but then again, what contemporary short story writer is?) but if you like the sort of thing he does - well-constructed, quiet, and often keenly observant stories - you'll be hard pressed to find anyone who does it better.
• 
  Holly Lichtman

  Loved the stories in this compilation of short stories. A few of the stories had older men as protaganists and I loved these stories the most. Could relate to the Chicago locations and the culture of the characters. The author drew upon emotion without being overly emotional. I might re-read some of the stories since I enjoyed them so much.
• 
  Christine

  Although there is a sameness to his characters - they seem to have a similar style of talking - I really enjoy these people and their Jewish world and Chicago environment. I wonder if there are still people like this and if so I wish I knew some of them.
• 
  Greg

  Epsteins essays are great - best in class. THis is a series of his short stories.
• 
  Craig

  Epstein is not a master of the short story form--the learned and snarky essay is his forte, but these are pretty good stories.