Shiksa

Fiction. Jewish Studies. A Jewish young man and a gentile girl fall deeply in love in the fifties but he lacks the character (or else has too much) to contemplate intermarriage. This short, vivid novel describes how, over the years, he comes to realize that this may have been the great mistake of his life.

"The name of David R. Slavitt may not yet be one to conjure with in literary circles, although if he were a magician, let's say, or a juggler, his skill in keeping so many poems, novels, translations, and other works in the air would have drawn gasps of astonishment and awe, as he added title upon title until he has now tossed out for our enjoyment over 100 books."—John M. Ridland

"He is an extraordinarily learned writer, intimate with the best literature of the Western tradition from the poets of the Greek Anthology to the contemporary poets whose translations he has edited for the Pennsylvania series of Greek tragedies and comedies. None of it is lost on him. The great works have worked upon him, and this is one of his means of achieving greatness."—Daniel Mark Epstein