William Saroyan Books

This is the most complete and generous sampling of the first half of an indispensable American writer's career.

William Saroyan, whose identity as a major American author was strongly colored by his Armenian heritage, contributed frequently to "The Armenian Review," to which he gives credit for first publishing his work. This collection, published posthumously at his request, includes ninety-seven short stories, two plays, and four poems written between 1934 and 1963 and comprises one of the literary finds of the decade.Saroyan was a restless man torn between two worlds--the Armenian past of his dead father, which he felt welling up inside him, and the American present whose opportunities and possibilities he exulted in. Editor James Tashjian has compiled a record of those three decades of conflict, most of it seen in print only by "Armenian Review" readers, that expands our appreciation of a unique talent whose energy and imagination made him a literary phenomenon.from back cover

**** Reprint of the 1934 original (which is cited in BCL3). Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

William Saroyan's most celebrated work of short fiction- a boy's view of the American Dream. Aram Garoghlanian was a Californian, born in Fresno on the other side of the Southern Pacific tracks. But he was also part of a large, sprawling family of immigrant Armenians--a whole tribe of eccentric uncles, brawling cousins, and gentle women. Through these unforgettable, often hilarious characters Aram comes to understand life, courage, and the power of dreams. Whether it is fierce Uncle Khosrove who yells "Pay no attention to it" in any situation, Uncle Melik, who tries to grow pomegranate trees in the desert, or angelic-looking Cousin Arak who gets Arma into classroom scrapes, Aram's visions are shaped and colored by this tum-of-the-century clan. Like Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, William Saroyan's brilliant short stories in My Name Is Aram work together to create a picture of a time, a place, and a boy's world-a truly classic account of an impoverished family newly arrived in America-rich in matters of the heart.

What a delight to find seventeen of Saroyan s uncollected stories within one cover!....charming tales, all blessed with Saroyan s pixieish imagination and magical writing style .Even today they read as though they have been freshly minted from the Saroyan treasure house. A discovery for those who love Saroyan s fiction; his spark is still wonderfully alive. Library Journal

Eleven of William Saroyan's most delightful tales, Fresno Stories springs straight from the source of the author's vision--"the archetypal Armenian families who inhabit Saroyan country, in and around Fresno, California." (Chicago Tribune)

A Lost Great American Master: meet Jack Kerouac's inspiration in these heart-expanding tales of immigrant life in 1930s USA, introduced by superfan Stephen Fry.JACK KEROUAC: 'I loved him ... He just got me' ARTHUR MILLER: 'The first to let it all hang out and write like a child in wonderland.' KURT VONNEGUT: 'Still the greatest.' JOSE[Bokinfo].

The inspiration for the major motion picture Ithaca, directed by and starring Meg Ryan—with a cast that includes Sam Shepard, Hamish Linklater, Alex Neustaedter, Jack Quaid, and Tom Hanks The place is Ithaca, in California's San Joaquin Valley. The time is World War II. The family is the Macauley's—a mother, sister, and three brothers whose struggles and dreams reflect those of America's second-generation immigrants. . . . In particular, fourteen-year-old Homer, determined to become one of the fastest telegraph messengers in the West, finds himself caught between reality and illusion as delivering his messages of wartime death, love, and money brings him face-to-face with human emotion at its most naked and raw. Gentle, poignant and richly autobiographical, this delightful novel shows us the boy becoming the man in a world that even in the midst of war, appears sweeter, safer and more livable than out own.