Eleanor Widmer (1925–2004)

Beautifully read by Lorna Raver, I kept forgetting this was"fiction," not strictly a memoir. I remember food critic Eleanor Widmer from my early San Diego days... A little kooky. This lovely story recreates the lower east side of her New York childhood. Not easy times, but told with such warmth, I know I'll be thinking about this book for a long time.

Widmer desribes life growing up in the Jewish section of the Lower East Side, with her strong, nurturing grandmother, her handsome, smart father, her beautiful mother, and her sad and troubled brother. Life centers on Manya's delicious food served in her own "restaurant:" her tenement living room. People come for lunch and dinner, and Manya befriends everyone. Smart and capable, she loves her family and does everything in her power to make them happy and healthy. She raises her grandchildren show more because her son, Jack, while having great instincts about style and fashion; is busy working, reading and learning, socializing, and following the latest Jewish and American productions with his fragile wife, Lil.

Partly autobiographical, Widmer, writes about her remarkable, talented family; their friends, how they coped with poverty and illness. The family changes from immigrants to citizens by appreciating and enjoying much of America's opportunities and offerings, and all because of a wonderfully strong, liberal, incredibly bright and loving grandmother.

Very good read. show less

This was an audio book and a fairly terribly successful transition to spoken word. Light reading, not terribly taxing.