I almost never connect with short story collections the way I do with novels, but these stories really stood out to me. Englander consistently probes similar themes--Jewish identities in the United States, the meaning and the future of Israel, Jewish assimilation, the tension between cultural and...
This book of short stories is about tradition, obligation, and external sources as meaning to our lives. I've been thinking about choices made under the umbrella of the first two, and personal responsibility for the last, and realize how many of our major decisions to marry, to follow in a well-w...