Small Bird, Tell Me: Stories of Greek Immigrants in Utah - Hardcover

Struggling and honest miners, the wandering gamblers who relieve them of their wages and the irresponsible, Americanized children of first-generation immigrants are among the predictable characters peopling this uninspired debut collection about the lives of Greek immigrants in Utah. The best story, "The Coffeehouse Election of 1922," describes an immigrant community divided into opposing factions because of elections in Greece. Its charm lies in its uninflected, history-book prose, but this style does not always serve Papanikolas, a historian by profession, so well. "The Letter Writer," for instance, is nothing more than a synopsis of its protagonist's life. Most of the characters are well-meaning and dull; a few, such as Zacharias in "The Kamari of the Village," are vicious--and dull. Despite the obvious care the author takes in portraying this subculture accurately, her book remains lifeless.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.