Sex, skyscrapers, and standard Yiddish: Stories

by Norman Ravvin

Absurdist, funny, tragic, these stories combine old-fashioned fictional values with an off-kilter modernist technique, bringing together the dark old world of Europe and the bright new world of America. In the title story, a Yiddish typewriter salesman and would-be writer finds unwanted inspiration in the voluptuous Lola. In Expatriate, a businessman wanters through Moscow in search of a painting stolen from his family during the war. In Doomed Cinema, two New York agents try to buy a historic movie house and move it to an American theme park.

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Norman Ravvin is a writer of fiction, criticism and journalism. His books include Hidden Canada, Cafe des Westens, Sex, Skyscrapers, and Yiddish, and A House of Words: Jewish Writing, Identity and Memory. He has also edited the short story collection Great Stories of the Sea, His short fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Canadian magazines as well as on the CBC. He has taught literature and creative writing at the University of Toronto and the University of New Brunswick. Presently, he is the chair of Canadian Jewish Studies at Concordia University in Montreal.

Reviews

[Rubie K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

finally read the book i got for $2 at a victoria college used book sale a million years ago and i now know less about this book than i did before reading it