The newest books by jewzsh authors, about Jewish subjects or of interest to Jewish readers.
FICTION
Mrs. Hornstien
By Fredrica Wagman; Henry Holt; $17.95.
With a knack for capturing
eeting a prospective for her mother-in-law, whose
mother-in-law for the enormous spirit and raw power the distinct cadence of dialogue
first time can be a daunt- gives Marty an insight into the and a merciless eye toward de-
ing endeavor by anyone's human condition that few oth- tail, author Fredrica Wagman
gives a candid look at the class
standards, but for timid, 17- ers ever achieve.
Though tough as nails, as the differences among American
year-old Marty Fish, it becomes
years go by Golda becomes Jewish families and the various
life-defining.
a figure of valor and relationships that exist. But
When
Marty's
MOVIES
pathos as she deals with mainly, Wagman spins a story
boyfriend Albert Horn-
the death of a child and a in praise of marriage and fami-
stien takes her home to
meet his mother, Golda, Mar- husband, and her own failing ly and the ties that bind us to-
ty thinks she seems "more like health. For Marty, Golda "was gether through the joys and
an apartment house or a bank the real teacher of my life," and excruciating pain that life can
or a department store than a in the end it is Marty who sits provide.
regular woman ... there was at Golda's side as death draws
near.
something enormous
— Leslie Joseph
about her."
And yet something
about this smallish
yet incredibly forceful
woman dazzles the
inexperienced teen-
ager.
Golda
reigns
supreme high above
Rittenhouse Square
in her opulent
Philadelphia apart-
ment, surrounded by
jewels and marble
sculptures. There she
presides over her
husband and two
children with an all-
encompassing em-
brace, if not iron fist.
The frequent jibe
from her children be-
ing "whatever the
boss lady says," ren-
ders nary an eye from
their mother, who
locks herself in her
room for a week upon
hearing the news of
her son's engagement
to the socially inferi-
or Marty.
The two women
eventually forge an
intimate relationship,
and that is the story
of. Mrs. Hornstien.
Told in - the under-
stated but increas-
ingly wise voice of
Marty, the novella
tells of Marty's initial
intimidation and
eventual admiration
Leslie Joseph is a
freelance editor and
an avocational
reader.
A young girl gets more than she bargained for in Fredrica Wagman's
M
Mrs. Hornstien.
Benjamin's Crossing
By Jay Parini; Henry Holt; $23.
German-Jewish critic and
philosopher Walter Benjamin,
was, at the time of his death in
1940, relatively unknown; in the
past three decades, he has ac-
quired almost cult status in the
academic world. Parini's fiction-
alized account of his fleeing Eu-
rope to escape the Nazis is told in
a way that makes the story part
tragedy, part dark comedy.
By Leslie Abramson with Richard
Flaste; Simon & Schuster; $25.
Best known for her defense of
Erik Menendez, attorney Abram-
son presents her chronicles of her
most notorious murder trials in
such a persuasive manner that
you'll not only like her, but her
felons, too.
Castles Burning: A Child's Life
In War
By Magda Doles; Norton; $24.
Told by the precocious 9-year-
old Magda — who her mother
calls "insolent and far too smart
for her own good" — Castles Burn-
ing recounts her childhood in Hun-
gary, her family's hiding and her
adoring and adored older brother.
NEW IN
PAPERBACK
Jay Parini brings Walter Benjamin to
life in his novel Benjamin's Crossing.
American Pastoral
By Philip Roth; Houghton Mifflin;
$26.
Nathan Zuckerman, the man-
ic hero of five of Roth's novels,
shows up once again, now falling
in love with the normality of all-
American life.
In The Memory Of The Forest
By Charles T. Powers; Scribner;
$23.
Written by an American jour-
nalist who lived for five years in
Warsaw, Memory opens with a
murder that leads to a deeper se-
cret: the disappearance of a small
farming village's Jewish popula-
tion, which was 80 percent of the
village's pre-World War II popu-
lation.
The War 1939-1945: A Docu-
mentary History
Edited by Desmond Flower and
James Reeves; De Capo; $24.95.
From the German invasion of
Poland to the Japanese surrender,
The War displays writings from
the conflict and, said the New York
Times, "This is a book for every-
one who wants to understand the
war because it transcends national
and personal rivalries. This is
what it was like."
They're Playing Our Song:
Conversations With America's
Classic Songwriters
By Max Wilk; De Capo; $14.95.
Stephen Sondheim, the Gersh-
wins, Richard Rodgers; Wilk com-
prises their careers, inspirations
and techniques through anec-
dotes.
— Compiled by
Lynne Konstantin
1/),
0
14 V
...S?0,19
NONFICTION
Streisand: A Biography
By Anne Edwards; Little, Brown
& Co.; $24.95.
An unauthorized show-biz suc-
cess story of the gal from Brook-
lyn who, says Walter Matthau,
was "corrupted by power" by her
second film.
The Defense Is Ready: Life In
The Trenches Of Criminal
Law
Twenty-six songwriting greats are
illuminated in They're Playing Our Song.