“There is a certain place where dumbwaiters boom, doors slam, dishes crash; every window is a mother’s mouth bidding the street shut up, go skate somewhere else, come home. My voice is the loudest.”

So begins the story of how a young Jewish girl, Shirley Abramowitz, gets cast in her school’s Christmas play, much to the chagrin of her mother and the amusement of her father. Jim Van Buskirk will lead a discussion of this Grace Paley classic that captures the complexity of the success with which American Jews assimilated to the culture of their place of residence.

Jim Van Buskirk currently works as a book group facilitator, writer, editor, public speaker, exhibit curator, and collections manager. He frequently presents at the JCCSF, San Francisco Public Library, and other locations on topics related to Jewish, film, and/or queer history. Copies of the story will be made available.

Program made possible, in part, by Judy Baston.

Click here to register.