What I Saw at the Fair

Ann Birstein's most recent autobiographical volume reveals her once again as the graceful story-teller she has always been throughout her many works. Youngest child of Rabbi Bernard Birstein of the "Actor's Temple," she knows how to tell the truth, letting no one (including herself) off the hook. Her wit is apparent from page one, even as she speaks of her marriage to Alfred Kazin and his abusiveness towards her. Her consciousness of herself as a writer, a woman, and Jew is never tinged with self-righteousness or pity.Birstein dedicates "What I Saw at the Fair" to Bel Kaufman and her grandfather, Sholem Aleichem. Both she and her book are in just the right company.