The Middleman and Other Stories [B1538]

1988 HCDJ in nice clean condition. A National Book Critics Circle Award winner and New York Times Notable Book: "intelligent, versatile . . . profound" stories of migration in America (The Washington Post Book World). Illuminating a new world of people in migration that has transformed the essence of America, these collected stories are a dazzling display of the vision of this critically-acclaimed contemporary writer.

An aristocratic Filipina negotiates a new life for herself with an Atlanta investment banker. A Vietnam vet returns to Florida, a place now more foreign than the Asia of his war experience. An Indian widow tries to explain her culture's traditions of grieving to her well-intentioned friends. And in the title story, an Iraqi Jew whose travels have ended in Queens suddenly finds himself an unwitting guerrilla in a South American jungle. Passionate, comic, violent, and tender, these stories draw us into a cultural fusion in the midst of its birth pangs, expressing a "consummated romance with the American language." (The New York Times Book Review).

From Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "Beautiful, difficult stories. The author is a master with creating images, scenes, and situations, all with a sure grasp of the dilemmas faced by her characters. Although a couple of the stories were less strong, the best of them leave indelible impressions. A difficult pleasure."; "Best short stories I've read in the past few years. Many different voices, different tones, so well written, a master at prose."; "Quite a pleasant surprise. Mukherjee's narration style is infectious, even if just a bit hard to follow at times. Favorite stories are: Fighting for the Rebound, The Tenant, The Management of Grief and The Middleman."; "This was astonishing. It was gritty, even grimy at times. Mukherjee isn't a very flowery writer - her prose is sparse but so precise and really, really evocative. I was continually impressed at how quickly I felt dropped into each story's setting and subsumed into the character's psyche. I didn't necessarily enjoy each story but I enjoyed how well all of them were written and how successfully ambivalent this collection is. There isn't always closure or satisfaction, but in a very human way."