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Title: a week in Bakersfield
Review: I was very drawn to the notion of a collection of short stories with Jewish characters - since I am one myself. Unfortunately, and there is no kind way of saying this - this is a writer without talent - not a smidgen. She prattles, endlessly piling on pointless colorless details. She digresses, she's chummy, she's boring. The net effect is narcotic. It was a struggle to finish her tedious stories - and, to tell the truth, I finally gave up after reading several. If there is a gem in that collection, I missed it..This author says she teaches writing at Harvard. That is very unfortunate. She may have single handedly decimated a generation of writers by putting them to sleep.Pick up a book by Isaac Bashavis Singer or Phillip Roth or Norman Mailer if you want to read about Jewish characters... .... "An Hour in Paradise" was more like a week in Bakersfield.... with all due respect to Philadelphia.
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