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g4845's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
devrose's review
adventurous
medium-paced
3.5
This is a collection of vintage Jewish scifi short stories. They were all good, but I felt the absence of real female characters in them. My favorite stories were “Gather Blue Roses” by Pamela Sargent (although I thought it the ending was abrupt) (I think the only story by a woman in this entire collection), “Paradise Last” by Geo. Alec Effinger, “Jachid and Jechidah” by Isaac Bashevitz Singer, and the introduction by Isaac Asimov.
nwhyte's review
http://nhw.livejournal.com/1016298.html[return][return]Not really very satisfied with this collection of "Jewish sf" stories. Perhaps I am over-sensititve to ethnic stereotypes, even by the ostensibly stereotyped, as a result of too much exposure to paddywhackery myself. It may seem an odd criticism, but I found it much more ethnocentric than I had expected: despite a recurrent theme of various non-human creatures claiming to be Jewish, in fact most of the stories totally play to stereotypes based on the mid-twentieth century Jewish experience in the United States, rather than on any broader exploration of Jewish identity or history. I'd be surprised if a European or Israeli Jew felt there was a lot here they could identify with. There is a truly awful story by George Alec Effinger. Rather disappointing.
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