Amidst the crumbling Ottoman Empire, an immigrant struggles to realize his potential in America in stark conflict with the demands of a large family
Heirs To The Pushcart Fortune weaves the lives of two generations of an immigrant's family during two of the seminal events of the twentieth century, the Great Depression and the Second World War.
This family saga explores the immigrant's search for that elusive American dream and how a chance encounter with a female professoor at Barnard College alters both their lives.
It's a tale of the the true legacy of the immigrant experience––the transmission to succeeding generations of ethical values challenged by the confrontation with reality.
Professional Reviews
This is a fabulous read!
This is a fabulous read!, July 20, 2007
By Barry M. Panter - See all my reviews
This is a must read book! Jack Salem's novel is a wonderful mixture of story, philosophy, history, and wisdom. The characters are real--and soon after I began reading I cared about them, and hoped for them, and wanted good things for them. I couldn't put it down until I finished it.
This is one of the best novels I have read in many years!
Barry M Panter, M.D. Ph.D.
Congratulations to Jack Salem!
Congratulations to Jack Salem!, December 4, 2007
By Bernard Brickman "book lover" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
Jack Salem's novel, Heirs to the Pushcart Fortune is a gripping read about the immigrants' struggle in the new world. I couldn't put it down. The characters evoked strong bonds of identification as my parents were also immigrants from Eastern Europe in the early 20th century. Jack Salem's characters literally pulled me into their striving to survive as the novel progressed. Being a fictionalized family history provided the author with the freedom to make them come alive. The book is powerful as well in its historical, political, social and philosophical dimensions. Congratulations, Jack, on creating one the finest books I have ever read.
A Real Gem!
A Real Gem..., November 1, 2007
By T. Carter - See all my reviews
Jack Salem in his first novel has created characters so indelible, and evoked a time gone by so vividly, that you feel the experience will be part of your conciousness forever. The book takes place largely in New York in the first half of the 20th century, but also briefly transports us through Spain and Turkey. The immigrant class of Sephardic Jews, as well as other denizens of New York, depicted here give us a deep personal insight into the hopes, dreams, and cultural bridges and challenges that helped build modern society. But the book, more specifically, is a deeply personal look at these familial and social struggles through the experience of one immigrant family- the Aboulafias. Through this family, headed by young Manny Aboulafia, and driven by his dreams, the book allows us to pull the covers back from our own modern American history through characters we never really knew, but seem to recognize immediately. The writing is evocative, poetic, and detailed. You'll be glad you read it... and richer for the experience.
A delightfully rare Historical Novel. 85% a biography of a spy, musician, mother and her neice trapped behind German lines in World War I. This background led to a diplomatic post in World War II. Aged 92, Vera disclosed her past life one year before
Shanghai Escapist grabs the faint-of-heart right from the get-go and serves up an ultimatum: What would you do if caught in the same circumstances? From the opening scene, the reader is tossed into the maze of daily intrigue as it existed in 1960s-70
