A Stranger Among Us: Stories of Cross Cultural Collision and Connection

by Josip Novakovich, Aimee Liu, Ana Menéndez

Thirty acclaimed writers of international fiction explore the stranger in tales of cultural clashes and bonds. These stories of disparate experience travel beyond politics and multicultural manners to become an essential discussion of otherness. Contributors include Nathan Englander, Laila Lalami, Ana Menendez, Josip Novakovich, Wanda Coleman, Tony d'Souza, Samrat Upadhyay, Mary Yukari Waters, Luis Alfaro, and Amanda Eyre Ward, as well as other accomplished writers from Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, and Zimbabwe, some published for the first time in the United States.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories

416 pages, Paperback

First published May 2, 2008

About the author

Josip Novakovich (Croatian: Novaković) is a Croatian-American writer. His grandparents had immigrated from the Croatia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to Cleveland, Ohio, and, after the First World War, his grandfather returned to what had become Yugoslavia. Josip Novakovich was born (in 1956) and grew up in the Central Croatian town of Daruvar, studied medicine in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad. At the age of 20 he left Yugoslavia, continuing his education at Vassar College (B.A.), Yale University (M.Div.), and the University of Texas, Austin (M.A.).

He has published a novel (April Fool's Day), three short story collections (Yolk, Salvation and Other Disasters, Infidelities: Stories of War and Lust), two collections of narrative essays (Apricots from Chernobyl, Plum Brandy: Croatian Journey) and a textbook (Fiction Writer's Workshop).

Novakovich has taught at Nebraska Indian Community College, Bard College, Moorhead State University, Antioch University in Los Angeles, the University of Cincinnati, and is now a professor at Pennsylvania State University.

Mr. Novakovich is the recipient of the Whiting Writer's Award, a Guggenheim fellowship, two fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts, an award from the Ingram Merrill Foundation, and an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation. He was anthologized in Best American Poetry, Pushcart Prize, and O.Henry Prize Stories.

He taught in the Master's of Fine Arts program at Pennsylvania State University, where he lived under the iron rule of Reed Moyer's Halfmoon Township autocracy. He is currently in Montreal, Quebec teaching at Concordia University.

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book of 30 stories about various countries, their people and their cultures. The book was educational, the writing and stories below average to average. I gave it 3 stars.

[Mary Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

My girlfriend--and Goodreads.com good friend, Shubha Vengugopal, has a story in this anthology called, "Bhakthi In the Water." It is about a middle-aged
Indian woman in the United States who gets over her
divorce and the death of her mother as she overcomes
her fear of water.

The founding editor of Other Voices Books, Bierlein
has compiled 30 stories about the experiences of
travelers and immigrants with unfamiliar people in
foreign lands.

The authors included Nathan Englander
and Josip Novakovich to Luis Alfaro and Amanda Eyre
Ward come from countries like Zimbabwe, Morocco,
Israel, Bangladesh, India, Croatia, Nepal, as well as
the United States and Canada; many have won various
awards and garnered fame in their homelands. Some are
being published in America for the first time.

"Overall, their stories are engaging, moving, and well
written. "The Professor's Office," for example, tells
the story of Mrs. Kanh, a Vietnamese immigrant who
lives on the outskirts of Los Angeles and watches her
husband fall victim to Alzheimer's. "Motherhood and
Terrorism" delves into the daily lives of oil wives
living in war-torn areas of the Middle East who escape
their fears by having children and buying expensive
things. "Bhakthi in the Water" is about a middle-aged
Indian woman in the United States who gets over her
divorce and the death of her mother as she overcomes
her fear of water.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing collection of short stories of international fiction. Each story is about people of different cultures coming together. With settings from Nairobi, to the India/Pakistan border, to Paris, to Guatemala, to various other parts of the world each story presents a glimpse into other cultures and what happens when cultures come together. Some of my favorite stories included one about American oil families living in Saudi Arabia, one about Cuban exiles in Miami (complete with many great jokes about Castro and communism in Cuba), one about an interpreter for Cambodian refugee processing at the Australian embassy, and one about an Indian woman learning to swim in the United States. There were a few stories I didn't like, but in general each was a fascinating, well writen glimpse into different cultures. Several stories reminded me of my expereinces traveling as well as my work with people coming to the United States from all around the world.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories all of which depict interactions between people of different cultures. The authors of the stories are from all over the world and I was definitely exposed to perspectives I'd never heard before. Some of my favorites were the story of lunatics being exchanged over the India-Pakistan border, the story of a Cambodian translator working with an Australian refugee agency, and the story of a foreign aid worker in Ivory Coast. Some of the stories weren't great, but overall I would recommend this collection.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Readers in Seattle: If I ever return this book to the library (which is looking doubtful- I keep bringing it to work for that purpose then deciding, no, I just *have* to reread one story or another one more time), you must borrow it.

[Stuart]

Looking forward to hearing first-person enculturation stories.

[Allison Parker]

I don't rate books for which I've been involved in publishing, however...
My description coming soon...