V

by Jennifer Natalya Fink

Fiction. V is based on a story the author's Brazilian-Jewish grandmother tells, a story aimed at explaining why she left Sao Paulo, Brazil, shortly after World War II. Like most family myths, the story changes every time she tells it; however, it always involves a monkey, a gun, a hat, a man, and, implicitly, a girl: the author's grandmother. In the grandmother's rendition, sometimes the monkey shoots the hat off the man; other times, the man shoots the hat off the monkey.

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007