My Name Is Aram
by William Saroyan
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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 show more 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. show lessTags
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It took me a few chapters to appreciate this series of boyhood vignettes. The tone is rosy almost poetic-like and seems to cast a romantic veil on what must have been a harsh upbringing. Inspired by his own youth, Saroyan shows us the carefree, joyous stories of a boy growing up in a poor Armenian family as a first generation American. Ultimately they are tales of generosity, discovery of the world, through both the Armenian and American lenses, and mischievousness.
If one is willing to overlook the beatings, dire poverty, and precarious living conditions, then this book is full of charm and rambunctious adventures.
If one is willing to overlook the beatings, dire poverty, and precarious living conditions, then this book is full of charm and rambunctious adventures.
Cheering, charming, easy read short stories set in the author's Armenian community in Fresno, Ca.
The narrator, Aram Garoghlanian, is a sparky kid/ teen; out adventuring and bunking off school with his pals; meeting locals; getting bribed to sing in a choir...all set against the traditional and picaresque older generation of his community.
The narrator, Aram Garoghlanian, is a sparky kid/ teen; out adventuring and bunking off school with his pals; meeting locals; getting bribed to sing in a choir...all set against the traditional and picaresque older generation of his community.
A wonderful collection of short stories published in various magazines by William Saroyan, more or less connected and related, most dealing with the Armenian experience in small-town California. Wonderfully eccentric, charming and true to life, these are widely regarded as Saroyan's best short stories. I tend to agree.
La mia copia (non esattamente quella che compare qui e nella mia libreria) presentava una traduzione non solo datata, ma pure scadente. Ho dovuto mollare, anche se qualcosa ero riuscito a intuire...
I grew up in Fresno and this story is set in Fresno about 1915ish and written by an Armenian author who won the Pulitzer Prize. I am impressed by many authors of this era and their simple and expressive use of English. Very fun so far.
I grew up in Fresno and this story is set in Fresno about 1915ish and written by an Armenian author who won the Pulitzer Prize. I am impressed by many authors of this era and their simple and expressive use of English. Very fun so far.
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An Armenian American with little formal education, Saroyan was a dramatist who disparaged the usual conventions of the form: "Plot, atmosphere, style, and all the rest of it," he wrote, "may be regarded as so much nonsense" (Three Times Three). His plays have been criticized as formless and his writing as undisciplined; yet his work is imbued with show more fondness for the human race and contains an infectious enthusiasm for society's misfits and innocents. Saroyan's dramatic career was launched with My Heart's in the Highlands (1939), a fantasy. The following year, The Time of Your Life (1939) was awarded the Pulitzer Prize---which Saroyan publicly refused on the grounds that commerce had no right to patronize art. This play, undoubtedly Saroyan's one enduring piece, takes place in a waterfront saloon where vivid characters wander in and out to come into contact with the philosophical Joe, a man of unending generosity. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Fischer Bücherei (55)
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- My Name Is Aram
- Original title
- My Name Is Aram
- Alternate titles*
- Ich heiße Aram
- Original publication date
- 1940
- Important places
- Fresno, California, USA; San Joaquin Valley, California, USA
- First words
- One day back there in the good old days when I was nine and the world was full of every imaginable kind of magnificence, and life was still a delightful and mysterious dream, my cousin Mourad, who was considered crazy by ever... (show all)ybody who knew him except me, came to my house at four in the morning and woke me up by tapping on the window of my room.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)In less than ten minutes after the bus left Salt Lake City I was believing everything, left and right, as the missionary had said, and it's been that way with me ever since.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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- 540
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- 55,301
- Reviews
- 10
- Rating
- (3.81)
- Languages
- 29 — Arabic, Armenian, Catalan, Chinese, traditional, Chinese, simplified, Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Farsi/Persian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Croatian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 16
- ASINs
- 30
