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Stories with Old-Country Values
Set in Twentieth-Century America
With so much about the Jewish people and the Jewish world in our news today, it’s important to remember the real people within the culture and tradition. The stories in Stella Zamvil’s My Father Hunts Zulus, My Mother Puts Up Pickles are full of Jewish tradition, language, food, and characters, and while they entertain they also introduce us to the warm world these characters inhabit.
Some of the stories in My Father Hunts Zulus, My Mother Puts Up Pickles are reminiscent of folk lore, others are dark or satiric, and some are wild flights of fancy. Some of the characters are sad people who will never realize their dreams; others rise and triumph, overcoming great odds.
In the title story, two families struggle to keep their traditions and routines in the midst of changing times and adult children’s newfangled ideas. In “A Time of Indecision” a boy’s Bar Mitzvah approaches, and his fear and misgivings about the big day and all its implications threaten to destroy all he’s worked for. “Tanta Lena” tells the story of a singer’s loves and tragedies, and the power and renewal that can come with friendship between women and different generations. In “Frimme Grittel’s Encounter” we’re introduced to a real heroine, one who gets a visit from the devil and tempts him after turning the tables with her intelligence and sincere devotion to goodness.
Mostly these stories remind us that people aren’t always what they appear to be—that we are always revealing ourselves to others with our actions and behavior—and that we should be on the lookout for goodness in the events and people around us.
Stella Zamvil lives in Palo Alto, California, where she has taught creative writing to groups ranging from gradeschoolers to retired seniors. Many of her stories have appeared in magazines, and she is the author of the collection In the Time of the Russias.
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My Father Hunts Zulus,
My Mother Puts Up Pickles
Stella Zamvil
ISBN 1-56474-377-2
160 pages, paperback, $12.95
For ordering information, click here or phone (800) 662-8351
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