"Kaplan brings to O My America! a large-minded, capacious intelligence, a vitality and a brilliant sense of irony She knows things the way George Eliot knows things and exhibits an astonishing power of rendering a whole society with virtuosity, energy, and explosive satire. I am grateful to her for so much joy, so much brilliance, so much ingenuity! Johanna Kaplan is an original."—Cynthia Ozick
"A remarkable first novel. . . . In unfolding the intricate and disorderly saga of Ezra Slavin, Johanna Kaplan has brought rare intelligence and satiric virtuosity to that overworked fictional subject, the American children of immigrant Jews. . . . Miss Kaplan has grasped the slippery and difficult nature of this man with such flawless authority that we
need no prototypes to understand him."—Commentary"A novel to savor and think about, particularly the memorable memorial service with its unexpected speaker. A fitting, unemotional end."—Philadelphia Inquirer
"Whatever it is that the author has given to Ezra, it works brilliantly."—The Nation
"A shrewd and generous novel. It brings to life a family, a culture, and several generations, but most of all it brings to life an American mensch."—The Washington Post
About the Author
Johanna Kaplan's previous book, her collection of stories, Other People's Lives, was nominated for the National Book Award in 1976 and won that year's Jewish Book Award. O My America!, also nominated for a National Book Award, won the Edward Lewis Wallant Award in 1981. Her short stories have appeared in Commentary and Harper's magazine.
October 1995