Boris Fishman

This is my third book by Boris Fishman (his second novel chronologically: I started with his recent memoir "Savage Feast", then followed with his debut novel "A Replacement Life" - both of which I loved - and now found this novel, his second). Here he surprised me by going out on a limb and getting very insightful with a female protagonist (unlike his other two books - where he seems to be more comfortable with getting into the psyche of male characters). So that was a surprise for me - his getting so deep into the mind of Maya, an ex-Soviet immigrant in this novel and into the plight she is in. As in the other two books, his writing is noteworthy, genuinely intuitive, and truly eloquent. If one were to find a single flaw, I would say that his tendency to insert long fragments (separated by dashes on both sides) into sentences might be considered as one; but then, again, Jose Saramago's sentences tend to run a whole page (!), and his writing is brilliant... So, all in all, another great read from Boris Fishman.… (meer)

A marvelous ​debut novel from a writer who recently caught my eye with his riveting memoir called "Savage Feast" (2019). "A Replacement Life" is also quite autobiographical, although the names (and maybe certain other things) are changed. Boris Fishman's talent shines in both works.

In this novel, there is a moral dilemma, a love dilemma, an age-old dilemma of belonging and fitting in - for an immigrant (specifically here for an ex-Soviet Jewish person), and all this is crafted, with stirring insight, in the inimitable style of narration that draws you in from page one.

Here's an example of a poignant truth about numerous ex-Soviet immigrants in New York (all kinds, not just Jewish), offered by the author quite eloquently:

"These unlike people had been tossed together like salad by the cupidity of the Soviet government, and now, in America, they were forced to keep speaking Russian, their sole bond, if they wanted to understand each other.... The brethren who had remained in the old world had moved forward in history - they were now citizens of independent countries, their native languages withdrawn from under the rug, buffed, spit-shined, returned to first place, but here in Brooklyn, they were stuck forever in Soviet times. They have gotten marooned on a new island except for what their children would do..."… (meer)