Touch & Go

You'll probably scratch your heads when I tell you how I chose this book. I liked the cover, I've always liked short stories, and I liked that Stein is a family name for me! I'm pretty sure only a few people have ever heard of this author. Okay. So I found the book at my used book store over a year ago, and it's been sitting on my shelf. I took it to work just in case I forgot to bring my current read with me - which I did, in fact, forget. So, by default, I started this book at lunch two days ago and finished it before I got home from work tonight. It was a quick and engaging read.

I ended up really liking most of the stories. There were only two that did not appeal to me, but, oddly enough, one of those was a story ("The Triumph of the show more Prague Workers' Council") especially enjoyed by others (per Amazon's reviews). My favorite story was one called "The Grandma Golem" which was like a cross between the writing of Sholom Aleichem and Stephen King. No kidding! This was one I'd rather not explain but have you read directly. My second favorite story was called "Hard Bargains" about a young white female Jewish reporter who ended up in a black ghetto while trying to fight off racial stereotyping. I found this story really believable and somewhat sad. I thought all of the stories were well written and different enough to keep me interested. They were kind of funny, a little pathetic, and most had an interesting twist. show less