Cynthia Ozick crafts stories that delve into the rich tapestry of Jewish tradition and the American experience with profound insight and precision. Her work, often imbued with intellectual depth and a keen sense of irony, explores the persistent tension between modernity and enduring faith. Ozick masterfully captures the complexities of the human spirit and the search for meaning in a restless world. Her distinctive prose is celebrated for its literary artistry and its power to evoke both deep emotion and critical thought.
Cynthia Ozick's collection showcases her literary journey through a selection of essays and short stories spanning over fifty years. In her essays, she tackles profound literary and moral questions while reflecting on the works of renowned authors. The included short stories reveal her stylistic brilliance and unique blend of history and myth, featuring titles such as "A Hebrew Sibyl" and "The Conversion of the Jews." This compilation serves as a testament to her deep engagement with literature and her insightful perspectives on the human experience.
"From one of our most pre eminent writers, a tale that captures the shifting meanings of the past, and how our experience colors those meanings. Lloyd Wilkinson Petrie, one of the seven surviving trustees of the now defunct (for 34 years) Temple Academy for Boys, is preparing a memoir of his days at the school, intertwined with a description of present events. As he navigates, with faltering recall, between the subtle anti-semitism that pervaded the school's ethos and his fascination with his own family history-in particular, his illustrious cousin, the renowned archaeologist Sir Flinders Petrie (check out his Wikipedia entry!), the source of his interest in antiquity-he reconstructs the story of his encounter from his school days with a younger student named Ben-Zion Elefantin, who seems to belong to a lost ancient Jewish sect. From this seed emerges one of Ozick's most wondrous tales, one that displays her delight in Jamesian irony and the mythical flavor of a Kafka parable, woven into her own distinct voice"--
The collapse of her brief marriage has stalled Bea Nightingale's life, leaving her middle-aged and alone, teaching in an impoverished borough of 1950s New York. A plea from her estranged brother gives Bea the excuse to escape lassitude by leaving for Paris to retrieve a nephew she barely knows.
This work is a clever and engaging literary homage that captures the essence of its inspiration while presenting a chilling authenticity. It blends entertainment with deeper reflections, embodying themes reminiscent of classic literature. The narrative is praised for its nimbleness, showcasing a skillful balance between homage and originality, making it a compelling read that resonates with both literary enthusiasts and casual readers alike.
The collection features four engaging stories that blend comedy, deception, and revenge, showcasing the author's sharp wit and storytelling prowess. Among these tales is a previously unpublished piece, offering readers a fresh glimpse into the author's imaginative world. Each story promises to entertain while exploring complex themes through unique characters and situations, highlighting the author's talent for crafting compelling narratives.
Four stories of comedy, deception, and revenge, including one previously unpublished, from the acclaimed author of Heir to the Glimmering World.Cynthia Ozick’s new work of fiction brings together four long stories that showcase this incomparable writer’s sly humor and piercing insight into the human heart. Each starts in the comic mode, with heroes who suffer from willful self-deceit. These not-so-innocents proceed from self-deception to deceiving others, who do not take it lightly. Revenge is the consequence -- and for the reader, a delicious, if dark, recognition of emotional truth.The glorious new novella “Dictation” imagines a fateful meeting between the secretaries to Henry James and Joseph Conrad at the peak of their fame. Timid Miss Hallowes, who types for Conrad, comes under the influence of James’s Miss Bosanquet, high-spirited, flirtatious, and scheming. In a masterstroke of genius, Ozick hatches a plot between them to insert themselves into posterity.Ozick is at her most devious, delightful best in these four works, illuminating the ease with which comedy can glide into calamity.
Cynthia Ozick's essay collection explores the joys of great literature through a lens of wit and vitality. Delving into the works of notable figures like Tolstoy, Bellow, and Plath, she uncovers unexpected insights and highlights the transformative power of literary imagination. The essays confront complex literary, historical, and moral themes, showcasing Ozick's critical prowess while celebrating the enriching experience of reading. This collection is both a tribute to literature and a reflection on its capacity to heal and inspire.
It is the stories upon which Cynthia Ozick's literary reputation rests. She writes about bitterness, cruelty and compulsion with brutal acuity and tenderness. She has created a timeless collection in which Greek mythology, superstition and the religious and cultural experience of the Jewish diaspora in America collide. The Pagan Rabbi is seduced by a tree sprite after seeing his daughter rescued from drowning by a water sprite. Such ecstasy is not permitted to mortals and so the scholar must die. He hangs himself with his prayer shawl as he watches the strangely beautiful nymph decay. In Envy, a Yiddish poet who watches the success of a contemporary, becomes very like a character in an I.B. Singer story entrapped by his anguish and haunted by the memory of a child. In the Doctor's Wife, the most gentle of the stories, a poor doctor not unlike Chekhov endures family life in which he is adored by his three sisters and oppressed by his family obligations. In these stories, we see Ozick defining herself and her literary territory. The stories may be read purely as evocations of Jewish experience, where time seems to have by-passed these characters. In the Butterfly and the Traffic Light, Jerusalem is seen upon a hill as only it can be in legend, and America is said not to have cities scarred by battles. This is a dazzling collection of short stories by an internationally celebrated novelist.
