Description
Book SynopsisEngaging memoir about growing up different (i.e. Jewish) in the Midwest.
-Reflect on the nature of memory, trauma, and writing.
-author is well known in the Minneapolis area.>/p>
—creative interweaving of different genres and sources.
Trade ReviewBernick's nimble storytelling has much to love. It's an insightful and spot-on mélange of perfectly preserved stories on place, history, and family.
* Publishers Weekly, starred review *
A moving memoir by a Minnesota native about her complicated childhood, and her complicated mother.
* StarTribune *
Table of ContentsAuthor's Note
Part One: Arrivals
The Bernick Family Survival Relay
Memory is a Slippery Fish
The Great Jewish Invasion
Three Jewish Jokes
Three Minnesota Jokes
A Departure from Minnesota Nice
A Story Told to Me by Grandpa Izzy
Aliens from Dee Olt Countree
Decamping to the Suburbs
Interesting Demographics
Emigration to Assimilation
The First Coffee Klatch
Waikiki Meatballs (recipe)
Arlene Wants Nice Lamps
Making a Betty Crocker Break for It
Mrs. Minnesota 1964
Mrs. Jewish Minnesota 1964
Mrs. Samuel Bernick Reaches for the Crown
Husbands of Contestants Wash Dishes
Pageant Night—Mrs. Minnesota 1964
Winners and Losers
JewishNotChristian
Mrs. Swanson—1967
Can't Hide from the Weather
Cold Snap
The Pain Game—1968
Sewing (In)Sanity
Part Two: Departing from the Storyline
Another Jewish Joke
(Re)Constructing the Narrative
Marriage Go-Round
Disclaimer
Arlene Goes AWOL—1968
Disappearing Act
Turn Up the Volume—1968
Missing the Strike Zone
Exiled to the War Zone—1969
Revolutionaries
No Rescue in Sight—1969
Terra Incognita
The Swinging Tree
Stress Fractures
Bubble-Speak
Grit
Out in the Cold
Looking for the Exits
Snow Bunny Gets Lost in La La Land
Bad with a Capital BS
A Real Nightmare
Remembering and Forgetting
Truth and Lies
The Nearest Exit
Epilogue: Evolving Storylines
Appendices
Timeline: Jews (and my family) in Minnesota 1840-1962
Timeline: Jews (and my family) in the Minneapolis suburbs 1950-1970
Timeline: The "Divorce Revolution" 1960-1975
Timeline: Jews (and my family) in California 1945-1973
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
