The Last Chicken in America

Year of Publication
2007
Publication Type
Short Stories
Number of Pages or Episodes
240 p.
Language
English
Contributors Author: Ellen Litman
Publisher
W. W. Norton
City
New York
Genre
Keywords
Abstract
This novel-in-stories tells the tale of Russian Jews in Squirrel Hill and their slow and simmering immigrant assimilation through a dozen interlinked stories. Masha, 18, is the protagonist and good daughter who is quick in an ESL program, while her parents struggle much harder. Five of the stories are told from Masha's point of view, and all of the characters age a little by the closing. Other stories feature men: seniors alienated from children, spouses grappling with unemployment and depression, the young searching for love.
Author Biography
Ellen Litman (1973— ) arrived as a teenager in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood from Moscow in 1992. She adapted quicker than most. She studied computer science at the University of Pittsburgh and worked in Baltimore and Boston as a software developer before earning her MFA at Syracuse University. Litman teaches creative writing at the University of Connecticut. She lives in Willimantic, Connecticut.
Time
1990s
Places
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