About the Author

Born and raised in Chicago, Joseph Epstein is considered one of America’s preeminent essayists. He was a lecturer at Northwestern University from 1974 to 2002, and between 1975 and 1997 he was editor of American Scholar magazine, published by the Phi Beta Kappa Society. His essays and stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, Atlantic Monthly, and Commentary. A contributing editor for The Weekly Standard, he has written nearly a score of books, including the highly acclaimed essay collection Snobbery: The American Version (2002). Many of his short stories have been collected in two volumes: The Goldin Boys (1991), and Fabulous Small Jews (2003).

About the Book

Fabulous Small Jews features eighteen of Joseph Epstein’s stories, mostly from Commentary and The Hudson Review. Like Epstein’s previous fiction collection, The Goldin Boys, the stories are portraits and vignettes of middle-aged Jewish men living in the Chicago area. The stories are at times cynical and at times hopeful, often tragic and nearly always touching.

Due to the large number of stories in this collection, we have selected seven for discussion. Each title is followed by a short summary and two or three discussion questions. The stories not covered in this guide are well worth reading. "A Loss for Words" is beautifully poignant. "Family Values," "Saturday Afternoon at the Zoo with Dad" and "My Little Marjie" are vividly written, often cynical looks at family dysfunction. Many of these stories aren’t particularly pleasant, but as unabashed examinations of their subjects, they are nonetheless rewarding.

Discussion Topics and Questions

General Questions

1. What is "fabulous" about the "small Jews" portrayed in Epstein’s stories? Do you think Fabulous Small Jews is an appropriate title for this book? Can you think of any alternatives?

2. Epstein’s 2002 essay collection, Snobbery: The American Version, explores the contemporary class system in the United States and how people seek and maintain status. How do the stories in Fabulous Small Jews address the subject of class in the Chicago Jewish community?

Questions Related to Specific Short Stories

I. "Felix Emeritus"—As retired academic Felix Arnstein adjusts to life in an old-age home, a fellow resident confides in him by asking him to read his memoir.

1. This story of a retired academic settling in at a retirement home relates how Jewish men cope in the "autumn" of their lives. How does this story set the tone of the entire book? What does it say about those who have reached this stage?

2. The old men at Northwood Apartments derive their identities from their past. Everyone is known for what he "used to be" (page 10). How are we to understand Manzelman, whose humor dwells on male impotence or excessive potency? How are we to perceive Schindler, whose life was business and who now bathes in a secret self-loathing? Do you think these characters are typical of Jewish men of that age?

II. "The Third Mrs. Kessler"—This story is unique in the collection as its central character is a woman, Elaine Goldman, the third in a string of women to marry concert pianist Jacob Kessler.

1. When Elaine tells her father of her plans to marry the famous pianist, her father warns her, "your claim will always be through your husband’s talent" (page 49). What did he mean by that? What does this tell us about individual identities, particularly of married women?

2. Discuss the tone and content of Dr. Goldman’s reaction to Elaine’s engagement. Was he being overly analytical? Would a "good father" have shown more compassion? Was Dr. Goldman correct?

III. "Moe"—Moe Bernstein’s life is full of disappointments. But when his young grandson stays over for the weekend, he gets a new lease on life.

1. The characters of this tale state that they—Jewish men over sixty—are "a pack of goddamn dinosaurs" (page 63). Is this a serious appraisal or self-effacing humor? Discuss the Yiddish expression alte kocker (often spelled alter cocker). Is it a term of endearment or derision?

2. What does the end of the story (pages 84-85) tell us about Jewish men in general and Moe Bernstein in particular?

IV. "Love and The Guinness Book of Records"—At the memorial service of Charlie Fairfax, the narrator recalls his acquaintance with the non-Jewish physician and puzzles over the unusual affair between Charlie and the narrator’s childhood friend Vivian, which lasted for more than thirty years.

1. Despite the fact that Charlie isn’t Jewish, the narrator describes him as "a model Jewish husband" (page 101). What does he mean by that? What is an ideal Jewish husband? Compare how the narrator and Charlie reflect, or don’t reflect, Jewish male stereotypes.

2. Why did Charlie and Vivian stay together as long as they did? What was so unusual about their relationship?

V. "Don Juan Zimmerman"—At fifty-four years of age, Donny Zimmerman is a confirmed bachelor and an ardent playboy, regularly dating a variety of women half his age while religiously avoiding getting "serious." When he runs into a woman on whom he had a crush in high school, Donny’s life takes a curious turn.

1. Donny Zimmerman, we are told, "kept himself clear of entanglements" (page 190). His friend, Lenny, cautions him to be careful about getting serious with a woman. "When you get beyond screwing, life becomes stickier" (page 191). What is it that Donny has been avoiding or looking for that has kept him a bachelor? Is it avoidance of entanglements, or something else?

2. One could make the case that this is a story describing responsibility rather than love. What do you think? What did Donny learn about responsibility in the story?

3. What does the story suggest about Jewish masculinity?

VI. "Postcards"—Seymour Hefferman never quite made it as a poet, an architect, or a teacher, and had a modicum of success as a commodities trader. His real talent is in writing postcards sent to artists, writers, and celebrities in which he anonymously and humorously challenges them.

1. Why does Hefferman send postcards? Is he trying to tell the truth? If so, than why doesn’t he use his real name?

2. On page 320, Hefferman and Andrea compare their favorite literary works. What do their differences say about dissimilar tastes of men and women in general?

VII. "Uncle Jack"—Billy never knew his father, who was shot down by the Germans in 1945. The only man he looked up to was his mother’s boyfriend, Jack Rafter, a wealthy mover-and-shaker, a married man with a family on the West Coast. As Billy grows up, he tries to come to terms with the fact that his mother is the powerful man’s mistress.

1. As unsavory as it may be to modern sensibilities, Jack’s arrangement with Billy’s mother has certain parallels in the biblical laws of keeping a Hebrew slave, a maidservant, or multiple wives. (Look at Exodus 21:7-11; Leviticus 19:20-22; Deuteronomy 15:12-18; Deuteronomy 21:10-14). Compare the modern situation with the ancient ones. Did Jack uphold his part of the "arrangement"? Did he treat Billy’s mother with the level of respect prescribed in Torah? Because of her agreement with Jack, Billy’s mother was unable to marry. How is her situation similar to that of an aguna ("chained woman")? Discuss and compare.

2. Jack was a consummate deal-maker. How are we to understand the final sentence of the story on a moral as well as an emotional level (page 340)?

Steven E. Steinbock is the author of several books published by the URJ Press, the most recent being These Words Upon My Heart, A Lexicon of Judaism and World Religions. Steve is a graduate of the HUC-JIR Rhea Hirsch School of Education in Los Angeles.