[.ca] Lipshitz Six Or Two Angry Blondes (ISBN 0452288061)

SOMEWHAT QUIRKY NONETHELESS INTRIGUING:
This author's first book, Some of the Parts, established her as one who created strong voiced characters , and wove somewhat quirky nonetheless intriguing plots. She follows this pattern with her second novel - there's little self-effacing about Esther or T. Cooper. Our story of the Lipshitz family begins with their escape from 1903 Russia and the cruel pogroms. Esther, Hersh and their four children gratefully arrive at Ellis Island only to discover that their son, Reuven, is nowhere to be found. They search all over New York City for their blond, blue-eyed son but are stymied at every turn. Finally, the family join a relative in Texas and establish a home in a place the most unlike Russia they've seen - the dusty panhandle of the Lone Star State. Esther continues to mourn the loss of her son, and when she sees a newspaper photo of Charles Lindbergh announcing his 1927 transatlantic flight she becomes convinced that he is her long lost son now grown and famous. She is so obsessed by this notion that she corresponds with the Lindbergh family and saves every scrap of news about the aviator. Now, segue to New York City a half a century later and Esther's great-grandson, T. Cooper, a writer who is not doing much writing but earns his bread and butter by imitating Eminem at bar mitzvahs. When Cooper's parents are killed in an auto accident he returns to Texas to make final arrangements, and it is there that he faces his strange family history. Actor/musician Kirby Heyborne gives a notable reading to the Lipshitz saga, by turns imbuing it with dogged determination, consternation, and humor. - Gail Cooke