Total Immersion

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Published by: Dial Press Trade
Release Date: August 10, 1998
Pages: 304
ISBN13: 978-0385332996

 
Synopsis

In “The Succession,” the members of a prosperous Hawaii synagogue agree on almost nothing.  But when the president of the synagogue absconds with a small fortune, far deeper—and more troubling—rifts emerge . . . In “The Closet,” Evelyn's sister flees her family to take up residence in the attic—while the shunned Evelyn finds herself slipping into the waters of her sister's soul . . . In “Wish List,” an expert on terrorism, vacationing at an academic retreat in England, receives a late-night phone call from National Public Radio.  Asked for commentary on a hostage situation of which he is ignorant, Ed can whisper only, “It's unspeakable.”

In these and other exquisite stories, Allegra Goodman fills rooms with laughter and voices, captures dinner parties, seaside picnics, academic grudges, shul politics, and the kind of hurts that only families and lovers can know.  Featuring two new stories previously published in theNew Yorker, Total Immersion is Allegra Goodman's first collection of short fiction—a masterful work from one of the most powerful and eloquent voices on the American literary landscape.

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Praise

“A work of real talent and great assurance . . . Allegra Goodman has observed as deeply as many writers can hope to do in a lifetime.”
Francine Prose

“Goodman is brilliant at capturing the clutter of both interior and exterior life.”
Los Angeles Times

“Allegra Goodman is a remarkably gifted young writer, with a penchant for getting swiftly to the truth of things.”
Chaim Potak

“Allegra Goodman is brilliant, funny, knowing, alive: a marvel.”
Cynthia Ozick