Greenhorns: stories

by Richard Slotkin

The people of Greenhorns reflect the different ways Jewish immigrants took to America in the early 20th century, and how America affected them. A kosher butcher with a gambling problem. A Jewish Pygmalion. A woman whose elegant persona conceals the memory of an unspeakable horror. A boy who struggles to maintain his father’s old-world code of honor on the mean streets of Brooklyn. The “little man who wasn’t there,” whose absence reflects his family’s inability to deal with its painful memories. An immigrant’s son who “discovers America” — its promise and its dark side — as a soldier on leave in WW2. These tales recover the violent circumstances, the emotional and psychological costs of uprooting, which left the immigrant uncertain of his place in America, and show how that uncertainty shaped the lives of their American descendants.

Genres: Short Stories

200 pages, Paperback

Published October 16, 2018

About the author

Richard Slotkin is an American cultural critic, historian, and novelist. He is Olin Professor of English and American Studies Emeritus at Wesleyan University, where he was instrumental in establishing the American Studies and Film Studies programs. His work explores the mythology of the American frontier and its influence on national identity. His trilogy—Regeneration Through Violence, Fatal Environment, and Gunfighter Nation—is widely regarded as a seminal analysis of the frontier myth in American culture. Slotkin has also written historical novels, including Abe: A Novel of the Young Lincoln and The Crater: A Novel of the Civil War. His contributions to scholarship and literature have earned him numerous accolades, including the Albert J. Beveridge Award and multiple National Book Award nominations.

Reviews

[Iva · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific collection of short stories; each one examining those who came to the U.S. as early 20th century immigrants. Many read like memories from Slotkin's own relatives--you couldn't make up Uncle Max or Yussi. There is tragedy as well as plenty of humor but the stories of adapting to life in America will linger. Highly recommended for anyone trying to understand the many issues of immigration--then and now.

[Jay Resnick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved these stories…. Beautifully written family vIgnettes of generations of a Jewish family of immigrants to the US from the other side. The dialogues, though written in English, often seem to be in Yiddish.

[Richbern · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating collection of short stories about Jewish immigrants from the Russian Pale of Settlement in the early 1900s. The author captures the individual stories with vivid detail, from the joys and horrors of the shtetl to the varied experiences upon arriving in America. On a personal level, it truly opened my eyes to the gargantuan journey my grandparents took more than 100 years ago.

[Michael Downs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful and deliberate storytelling. The characters in these stories are decent people working to adapt to lives in a new country that offers much but falls short of a Promised Land. Smart, rich, and textured.

[Karen]

Great stories!