Alan Cheuse (1940–2015)

This book gives a whole new meaning to the the word "yenta". In Alan Cheuse's novel, the narrator, Mrs. Minnie Bloch (and, oh, does he do her voice well!) airs the dirty laundry of her family to a small group of her contemporaries. I guess mothers or grandmothers all do this to some extent, but it's amazing to read how this story develops as Mrs. Bloch watches her son and granddaughter make some rough life choices which end in even tougher situations. Nevertheless, Minnie Bloch remains show more available and supportive to them. What a Jewish motherly and grandmotherly thing to do!

The story tells of Minnie Bloch's son, Manny, who decides to become a rabbi after witnessing the death of his father in a freak accident. Later in life, Manny decides to move away from the pulpit and try a different direction for his life by going into business with his brother-in-law. Manny's daughter Sarah has a particularly difficult relationship with her father as he moves away from his former life as a rabbi.

Mrs. Bloch's narrative oftens goes on and on, sometimes wearyingly so, but her words are threaded with thoughtful ideas and remain full of the fervent desire to relate how deeply she cares about her family. Yes, her words are peppered with "Oi, oi, oi..." when things do go wrong, but she always has a carefully prepared meal to offer when things need to be remedied, the latter being a trait which makes this character achingly familiar. I felt an immediate companionship to her and loved the way the author brought the story of this particular family to light.

Be forewarned that this is a troubling story, although that fact is not apparent at its outset. I found it to be one, however, which wapped its pages around me and took me to its heart. This book is a gem of a story in the way that it is told and one which I feel should circulate among a much wider audience. I hope I can entice more readers to give it a try. show less

I've wanted to read this book for some time, since I listened to Cheuse as the resident book critic on NPR's "All Things Considered" for many years, and always enjoyed what he had to say. FALL OUT OF HEAVEN is nearly thirty years old now, but it still holds up surprisingly well, considering all the changes that have taken place since 1986 when Cheuse was writing it, in the era of Gorbachev's 'glasnost'. Simply stated, Cheuse has woven three story lines toghether: his Russian Jewish immigrant show more father's early life as a pilot for the Red Army Air Force in the 1930s and his circuitous path to the U.S.; the author's own childhood and coming of age in New Jersey; and the trip he and his 21 year-old son Josh made back to the USSR to retrace the routes taken and places lived by his now-deceased father. Besides his own writing, Cheuse also incorporates stories from an autobiographical manuscript his father left behind.

The story starts off rather slowly, but it gets better as we learn more of Fishel Isaakovich Kaplan's (aka Philip K. Cheuse, the author's father) difficult early life - how his father and brothers emigrated to America, leaving him and his tubercular mother behind. How young Fishka became a pilot for the USSR and was decorated for heroism with the Order of the Red Banner, then, because of injuries suffered in a crash, was forced out of the Air Force, and more. It is, in fact, a fascinating and moving story, one that Fishel/Philip tried for most of his adult life to write down, but in English, a second language. He tried to get the young man Alan to read it and help him get it right, but Alan refused, was too full of himself and trying to become a writer. Only after his father died did a remorseful Alan begin to look at his father's manuscript. As he was writing this book, and making his journey across the Soviet Union's Asian republics where his father lived and flew, he claimed he heard his father's voice. Maybe he did.

This is a good book. I wish I could tell Alan Cheuse that, even if I am thirty years late, but I won't be able to do that. Sadly, Alan Cheuse died last year at the age of 75. He's written a few other books, but I don't think any of them ever made him rich or famous. But he loved books and good writing. We have that in common. Yes, this is a good book, a loving tribute to a father he never quite understood. His father would be proud. Highly recommended.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER show less

A slightly expanded version of this review is posted on my blog at:
http://jlshall.blogspot.com/2008/08/review-fires.html

The pair of short novellas that together make up Alan Cheuse’s The Fires are excellently crafted and emotionally compelling works exploring themes of memory, love, loss, and renewal. As I read them I was often reminded of J.D. Salinger – almost as if we’d dropped back in on Franny and Zooey, now in their middle years with adult problems (and problem children) of show more their own. I’m not sure whether or not Cheuse would like to hear that, but for me it’s a great compliment.

In the first work (also titled “The Fires”), Gina Morgan, middle aged and menopausal, must travel to Uzbekistan to deal with the complications of retrieving her dead husband’s body after he’s killed in an auto accident. If that’s not bad enough, she also has the problem of carrying out his last wish – to be cremated – in a Muslim country where cremation isn’t practiced. In “The Exorcism,” Tom Swanson must deal with the aftermath of his daughter’s expulsion from college for setting fire to a grand piano in the college concert hall. Thus, the two instances of fire, another uniting element.

I enjoyed The Fires so much I immediately sat down and read it over a second time – something I rarely do, even with short works. And I think it will stand up to many re-readings. These are very fine stories by a gifted and insightful writer. show less

From the former NPR book reviewer, picked up from Williams James Books in Port Townsend a couple of years ago, mainly because I recognized the author's name from the radio.

There are three stories here - his father's, the child/adolescent Alan's, and the current (1986) Alan and his son travelling to Russia.

I could have done without two of the three, but his father's story is so noteworthy that overall I am glad I picked it up. Surviving two water landings as an early aviator is show more extraordinary, along with the third forced landing that won him the Order of the Red Banner and resulting wounds.

Reminds me of my own inherited close calls in two previous wars (that I know about). If I ever get that down on paper I'll concentrate more on those stories than my own. show less